In this episode, Roxana Parra Sepulveda interviews Alison O’Connor, a Churchill Fellow specializing in moral injury, trauma recovery, and the arts. They explore the deep psychological and emotional impacts of moral injury, its roots in military and frontline professions, and practical approaches for prevention and healing.
Alison O’Connor is a Churchill Fellow (2016) in moral injury, trauma recovery and the arts. She is a writer, trainer and therapist with 30 years’ experience in health, community and arts settings, and with military veterans and survivors of complex trauma and moral injury. She worked for several years as Lecturer and Senior Lecturer in Counselling and Psychotherapy at University of South Wales. She has published several articles on moral injury and co-founded Moral Injury Partnership, with Sophie Redlin and Simon Edwards, two other Churchill fellows. They have designed and delivered a retreat-based programme of restorative support for frontline professionals impacted by moral injury and burnout, which was evaluated in partnership with the International Centre for Moral Injury at Durham University. Alison presented her work on moral injury at the inaugural conference at the International Centre for Moral Injury, 2023 and subsequent conferences in 2024 and 2025 as well as at the UKCP Conference: Psychotherapy in a Changing World, 2024.
Alison has extensive experience of working reflectively with professionals from diverse disciplines, guiding them to deepen their self-understanding and extend their emotional, social and relational intelligence. She is highly skilled at synthesising research and translating psychological concepts into accessible, reader-friendly language, as demonstrated in the book she recently co-authored, Creating Life Story Theatre: A Guide for Applied Theatre Professionals. (Methuen Drama, Feb 2025). Alison is the Co-Founder of Arts and Health charity, Re-Live where 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.
Website and social media
https://www.alisonoconnor.co.uk/
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/alison-o-connor-a59296118