A Soul Injury is an overlooked and unassessed wound that separates an individual from their “real self”. The “real self” includes the totality of who one is – the good, the bad, the ugly, the beautiful. Soul injuries cause a person to feel defective, inadequate, or unworthy.
The concept of Soul Injury originated among a group of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) nurses who cared for 10,000 dying Veterans and witnessed soul injuries surfacing on the deathbeds of their Veteran patients.
Soul Injury, defined by Opus Peace, is:
- A long-lasting response to a person or situation that causes one to feel personally defective, inadequate, or incomplete
- An overlooked, unassessed wound that separates one from their “real” self, causing them to feel less than whole
- An aching wound perpetuated by unmourned loss, unforgiven guilt/shame, and diminished self-compassion that is often manifested as a sense of emptiness, loss of meaning, or a sense that a part of self is missing
Who is Opus Peace?
Opus Peace is a non-profit organization dedicated to leading the movement to help those effected by soul injury learn how to love, forgive, and trust their capacity to navigate the world. To heal soul injury, Opus Peace provides tools and resources for individuals to disarm their heart and cultivate personal intimacy with the scattered aspects of their selves.
Additional resources presented by Opus Peace for understanding and treating soul injury include:
- Soul Injury at a Glance: this one page guide provides additional information on risk factors and treatment for soul injury.
- Soul Injury Inventory: this tool can be used to assist individuals in determining if they may have a soul injury.
- Soul Injury, Moral Injury, and PTSD: this chart differentiates the definition, impact, causes, and treatment between soul injury, moral injury, and PTSD.
- Anchor Your Heart: this strategy assists individuals to allow emotion pain and peace coexist without fear.
- Fallen Comrade Ceremony: this guide provides insight into the purpose and process of fall comrade ceremonies for honoring those who survived military service.
We Honor Veterans & Opus Peace Collaborates to Provide Soul Injury Care Resources
We Honor Veterans is proud to maintain a collaborative partnership with Opus Peace. Through this partnership, WHV and Opus Peace have hosted educational webinars to improve WHV partners capacity to provide care and healing to Veterans at the end of life.
Soul Injury Webinars
WHV + Opus Peace Webinar: Mistakes Have Been My Best Teachers in Caring for Veterans
Hospice Care for Veterans Hope & Healing with Opus Peace
Soul Injury Self Awareness Inventory
Related Materials
Vietnam Veterans: Untold Stories at the End of Life
Stress, Secondary Trauma, and the Caregiver Brain with Opus Peace January 2024
Vietnam Veteran Beads Activity
Please remember that ONLY Vietnam Veterans can make them and only Vietnam Veterans can give them.
Supplies needed to make Vietnam Beads:
- 25 mm split rings: silver color
- 9 mm Pony Beads yellow, red, and green
- Leather-like black cord
The rings and beads can be purchased online, check Google for inexpensive options.
The cord is cut into 13-inch strips. The colors go in this order (see picture on OP site). 1 green, 2 yellow, 1 red, 1 yellow, 1 red, 1 yellow, 1 red, 2 yellow and 1 green; slip knot over the ring and repeat the process. Knots are on the ends of both sides. Safety pins for pinning.
