Development of the Clinical Interview for Moral Injury (CIMI)

What is it about?

This paper describes the development of a new, clinical interview for moral injury: the CIMI (Clinical Interview for Moral Injury). While many questionnaires are available to assess moral injury in different populations, an interview was lacking that allowed patients to describe their morally injurious experiences and consequent psychosocial functioning in their own words. The interview was developed and refined based on existing diagnostic questions, consultation with international experts, and evaluation by patients and therapists. This version of the interview focuses on military veterans especially and hence is called the 'CIMI-M'.

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Photo by LinkedIn Sales Solutions on Unsplash

Photo by LinkedIn Sales Solutions on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Questionnaires are a good way to assess potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs) and their psychosocial outcomes (moral injury) but they commonly require patients to 'tick a box'. Moral injury may not be easy to discuss. In addition, each patient's moral injury story is different. This interview allows patients and therapists to have a personalized, sensitive conversation about what the patient's moral injury entails. In addition, the interview yields valuable information for case conceptualization.

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