The therapeutic role of self-transcendence in moral injury recovery: theory, mechanisms, and clinical implications

Moral injury involves disruptions in self-referential processing, including rigid negative self-appraisals and impaired meaning-making after morally injurious events. This paper proposes self-transcendence—a metacognitive state of reduced self-focus, expanded awareness, and prosocial meaning—as a mechanism for recovery. Drawing on Mindfulness-to-Meaning Theory, mindfulness practice is theorized to cultivate self-transcendence via decentering and meta-awareness, which broaden attentional scope and modulate habitual self-processing. The integrative review suggests that fostering self-transcendence through mindfulness-based and contemplative practices may reduce rigid self-focus, expand interpretive frameworks of meaning, and support moral identity repair. Implications for designing interventions that cultivate self-transcendence are discussed, along with limitations in measurement and reliable induction of such states.

Study at a glance

Abstract

A growing body of psychological and neuroscientific research suggests that moral injury (MI) involves maladaptive self-referential processing, including disruptions in moral identity, rigid negative self-appraisals, and impaired meaning-making following exposure to potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs). Building on Mindfulness-to-Meaning Theory (MMT), this paper proposes self-transcendence (ST)-a metacognitive state characterized by reduced self-focus, expanded awareness, transcendent affect, and prosocial meaning-as a potential mechanism for MI recovery. Within MMT, mindfulness practice is theorized to cultivate ST via decentering and meta-awareness, processes that broaden attentional scope, promote flexible cognitive reappraisal, and modulate habitual self-referential processing. Mindfulness and contemplative research further link ST to increased cognitive flexibility, reduced in shame-focused narrative self-processing, and adaptive integration of emotionally and morally disruptive experiences. Drawing on an integrative review of ST-consistent and MI-related mechanisms, this paper argues that fostering ST through mindfulness-based and contemplative practices may reduce rigid self-focus, expand interpretive frameworks of meaning, and support moral identity repair and meaning-making. Implications are discussed for designing interventions that intentionally cultivate ST as both standalone approaches and modular components, while acknowledging current limitations in measurement, readiness assessment, and the reliable induction of ST states.