Moral Injury Following Traumatic Events: Working with Clients Who Have Violated Their Conscience

Trauma survivors whose PTSD symptoms resist traditional therapy approaches - and clinicians struggling to understand how neuroscience can enhance treatment - may need more than generic trauma protocols to help create lasting healing. Jennifer Sweeton has spent her career bridging cutting-edge neuroscience research with practical clinical application, becoming an internationally recognised expert who has revolutionised how practitioners understand and treat trauma through brain-based interventions.

As a Stanford-educated clinical and forensic psychologist with doctoral training at Stanford University School of Medicine and a master's degree in affective neuroscience, Dr. Sweeton represents the pinnacle of scientific rigor applied to trauma treatment. Her Amazon #1 bestselling book Trauma Treatment Toolbox and recognition by Shortform as one of the "100 Best Trauma Books of All Time" demonstrate her ability to translate complex neuroscience into practical tools. Her recent completion of her JD from the University of Missouri-Kansas City adds crucial legal expertise to her forensic psychology practice, making her uniquely qualified for complex cases involving legal proceedings.

Dr. Sweeton's expertise spans PTSD treatment, the neuroscience of mental health, forensic assessment, women's issues, anxiety disorders, and legal aspects of mental health. Her approach integrates evidence-based trauma therapies with cutting-edge understanding of neuroplasticity and brain-based healing. She is the developer of Neural Desensitisation and Integration Training (NDIT), an evidence-informed modular psychotherapy for PTSD that specifically targets neuroplasticity in key brain regions. Her specialisation includes complex trauma presentations, forensic evaluations for legal proceedings, and cases where standard trauma treatments have been ineffective.

What sets her training apart is rigorous science combined with practical application. As a world-renowned trauma treatment expert, Sweeton doesn't just teach trauma techniques - she shows practitioners how specific interventions create measurable changes in brain structure and function. Her experience training over 60,000 mental health professionals worldwide demonstrates her exceptional ability to make neuroscience accessible to practicing clinicians.

For your practice, expect to gain brain-based trauma interventions, specific techniques for treatment-resistant PTSD, and forensic assessment skills for legal cases. Her approach particularly benefits clinicians wanting to integrate neuroscience into their trauma work, those dealing with complex forensic cases, or practitioners seeking advanced training in evidence-based PTSD treatment.

Quick Win: Sweeton's "neural pathway mapping" technique helps clients understand how trauma affects specific brain regions - helping to reduce shame and increase treatment engagement by showing that PTSD symptoms reflect brain changes, not personal weakness.

Qualifications

• PsyD, Clinical Psychology, PGSP-Stanford PsyD Consortium, 2012
• MS, Clinical Psychology, PGSP-Stanford PsyD Consortium, 2010
• MA, Personality Psychology (Affective Neuroscience), Stanford University, 2007
• BS, Cognitive Psychology, University of Kansas, 2004
• JD, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law, 2025
• Licensed Clinical & Forensic Psychologist
• Training: Stanford University School of Medicine, Pacific Graduate School of Psychology, National Center for PTSD

Authored Publications

• Traumatic Stress Recovery Workbook (2025)
• Trauma Treatment Toolbox (Amazon #1 bestseller, Shortform's "100 Best Trauma Books of All Time")
• Eight Key Brain Areas of Mental Health and Illness
• Train Your Brain Card Deck: 100 Techniques to Heal Trauma and Build Resiliency
• Multiple book chapters and professional publications

Leadership & Teaching

• Founder/Co-owner, Kansas City Mental Health Associates (group private practice)
• Former President, Greater Kansas City Psychological Association & Oklahoma Psychological Association
• Adjunct Faculty, University of Kansas School of Medicine & University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
• Developer, Neural Desensitisation and Integration Training (NDIT) for PTSD

Professional Experience

• Director of Behavioral Health, Clinton Service Unit, Indian Health Service, 2015–2016
• Telemental Health Psychologist, Oklahoma City VA Medical Center, 2013–2015
• Combat Stress Recovery Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center/Oklahoma City VA, 2012–2013

Training & Speaking

• Trained over 60,000 mental health professionals internationally
• Keynote speaker, trainer, and workshop leader worldwide
• Sought-after expert for legal, corporate, government, and community education events
• Developer of continuing education programs serving 50,000+ licensed mental health providers

Ready to integrate cutting-edge neuroscience with trauma treatment? Discover how Dr. Sweeton's brain-based interventions can transform your ability to help trauma survivors achieve lasting recovery through evidence-based approaches that target specific neural pathways.