Webinar by Alison O'Connor: Creative approaches to recovery and repair after moral injury: Life story theatre and collective narratives

Alison is a theatre practitioner, therapist and clinical supervisor who has worked alongside people impacted by moral injury and trauma in military veteran communities, prisons and healthcare settings over the past 25 years. She is the Co-Founder of Re-Live, an Arts and Health charity based in the UK, which co-creates a reflective programme of groupwork and Life Story Theatre. With Co-founder and best friend, Karin Diamond, she received an Arts and Health Practice Award from the Royal Society of Public Health for creative work with military families, and an award for International Leadership in Arts and Health from Arts and Health Australia. Together with friend and colleague, Clark Baim, Alison and Karin recently co-authored the book, Creating Life Story Theatre, which is published by Methuen Drama on 20 February 2025. The book explores the process of co-creation with people recovering from moral injury and trauma and shares the authors’ creative methodology which integrates life review with theatre, storytelling, music, comics and film.

Several years ago, Alison’s Churchill Travel Fellowship took her to America to explore artistic approaches to supporting the psychosocial needs of military veterans and their families returning home. The key discovery of her Fellowship was the emerging construct of moral injury, and the deep societal challenges this illuminates. This webinar will present case studies from the UK and America which highlight the transformative potential of the arts for moral injury.

Synthesising learning from the field with an overview of the existing literature, the webinar will offer an argument for arts being integral to future developments in moral injury and moral repair. Alison will also share the retreat-based work she is developing with Churchill Fellows, Simon Edwards and Sophie Redlin at Moral Injury Partnership. Their collective research on post-traumatic growth, American Indian and Alaska Native talking circles and creative approaches to moral repair celebrates the healing power of sharing stories within a community of kindness and respect.

To receive the link to join the webinar, please visit the registration site, click on "Register" and follow the instructions. If after registering you don't receive the confirmation email in your inbox, please check your junk mail. This webinar will be hosted on Microsoft Teams but please note that you don't need Teams installed on your device in order to join the webinar.