The REBOOT First Responders Program: Insights of U.S. Graduates

Moral injury among first responders: Experience, effects, and advice in their own words.

“…After receiving approval from the governing institutional review boards, we recruited first responders to participate in an interview (see also Knobloch & Owens, 2023b). Our recruitment strategy involved emailing a listserv of approximately 300 recent REBOOT graduates maintained by the organization’s headquarters.…”

“…Because the REBOOT curriculum has its roots in occupational therapy principles (Knobloch & Owens, 2023b), we hired professionally trained occupational therapists to conduct the interviews. The interview team was comprised of 11 clinicians who (a) were completing doctoral degrees in occupational therapy, (b) had extensive experience working with clients, and (c) were unaffiliated with the REBOOT program.…”

“…Although program evaluation research suggests that the REBOOT First Responders course is helpful for bolstering the well-being of attendees (Knobloch & Owens, 2023a, 2023b), the program also provides basic instruction about the concept of moral injury. We opted to recruit REBOOT graduates for interviews to spotlight the perspectives of first responders who were familiar with the moral injury construct, who had mindfully reflected on their experiences, and who were healthy enough to discuss moral injury with a low likelihood of retraumatization.…”