Over recent weeks, we have explored moral distress in depth. Today, we will focus specifically on how it manifests within your team and what trauma-informed leaders can do to address it effectively. Moral distress is a complex emotional and psychological state that can significantly impact both individual employees and organizations overall. Over the years, I’ve seen firsthand how moral distress can take a toll on individuals, teams, and entire organizations. I’ve felt that weight myself—the gut-wrenching frustration of knowing what’s right but feeling powerless to act on it. If you’ve been there, too, you’re not alone. I want to share how trauma-informed leadership can help us navigate moral distress, both for ourselves and for the people we lead.

Understanding Moral Distress in Your Team

Moral distress happens when we’re unable to act in alignment with our values due to external constraints—whether organizational, systemic, or societal. That disconnect isn’t just frustrating; it’s emotionally and psychologically exhausting. As leaders, we need to recognize the signs of moral distress and respond in ways that prioritize psychological safety, empathy, and ethical responsibility.

Signs of Moral Distress in Your Team

While signs of moral distress may not always be immediately obvious, there are several key indicators to watch for:

1. Increased Emotional Distress: When team members experience moral distress, they may show signs of emotional upheaval. This could include heightened anxiety, frustration, sadness, or anger, particularly when their values are at odds with the demands placed on them. You may notice a shift in their emotional energy, with signs such as frequent outbursts, irritability, or a sense of being emotionally overwhelmed. Affected employees may also appear disengaged or distracted.
2. Withdrawal or Disengagement: Feeling powerless or unable to act in accordance with their values may cause employees to withdraw or disengage from work. This could manifest as reduced participation in meetings, reluctance to join team activities, or physical withdrawal, such as isolating themselves from colleagues. They may distance themselves emotionally from their work and stop contributing to team discussions or decisions.
3. Increased Cynicism or Skepticism: When individuals are unable to align their actions with their ethical values, they may become disillusioned or cynical about their work or the organization’s direction. You might notice a rise in negative or skeptical comments about leadership, organizational goals, or the political climate. This can lead to a pervasive sense of distrust, particularly if employees feel that their concerns or voices are not being heard.
4. Decreased Productivity or Efficiency: Moral distress often leads to a lack of motivation, making it difficult for employees to focus or perform at their usual levels. You might notice a drop in performance, missed deadlines, or a general decline in the quality of their work. The emotional burden can cause staff to become disengaged from their tasks, leading to procrastination and diminished productivity.
5. Physical Symptoms of Stress: The emotional toll of moral distress can often manifest physically. This can include complaints of headaches, fatigue, gastrointestinal problems, or insomnia. Team members may appear physically drained, and you might notice that they call in sick more frequently or appear exhausted despite adequate rest. These symptoms reflect the psychological stress of unresolved ethical dilemmas.
6. Expressing Powerlessness or Helplessness: When employees feel that they cannot act in line with their values, they may express feelings of powerlessness or futility. This may be communicated through statements like, “Nothing I do matters” or “There’s no way to change things.” These feelings of helplessness can further deepen the distress and hinder employees from taking meaningful action.
7. Conflict with Team Members or Leadership: Moral distress can lead to interpersonal conflicts, especially when individuals feel that their values are being compromised by others. Increased tension or conflict may arise between team members or between staff and leadership. This can be observed as frequent disagreements, passive-aggressive behavior, or reduced collaboration on tasks that require joint effort.
8. Excessive Perfectionism or Overwork: In some cases, employees experiencing moral distress may attempt to overcompensate by working excessively long hours or obsessing over minute details. This can lead to burnout and further stress. If employees are taking on too much responsibility in an attempt to “fix” the situation, they may exhibit signs of exhaustion, irritability, and an inability to delegate.
9. Increased Absenteeism or Turnover: As moral distress accumulates, employees may decide to take more time off to recover, or they may leave the organization altogether. This can be a direct result of the inability to reconcile their values with the demands placed on them. An increase in sick days, personal leave requests, or voluntary resignations could signal that employees are experiencing moral distress.

Addressing Moral Distress as a Trauma-Informed Leader

If you’re leading a team, you’ve likely seen the toll that moral distress can take—when people feel stuck between what they believe is right and the limitations of their workplace. It’s frustrating, exhausting, and can lead to burnout. I’ve been there, and I know how hard it is to balance ethical leadership with the realities of organizational constraints. But there are concrete steps you can take to support your team in these times.

1. Promote Psychological Safety

Your team needs to know they can voice concerns without fear of punishment or retaliation. Psychological safety isn’t just about making space for open discussion—it’s about proving, time and again, that speaking up won’t cost them their dignity, job security, or peace of mind. As leaders, this can feel a bit uncomfortable – team members may start expressing their feelings more confidently and we may not like what we hear! However, even small moments of acknowledgment can ease the burden of moral distress. People need to know they’re not carrying these ethical dilemmas alone. When we model safety, we give our teams permission to stand up for what’s right—without standing alone.

If you want more ways to build psychological safety, check out this blog post.

2. Foster Transparency and Open Communication

I’ve been in situations where decisions that deeply affected my team were made behind closed doors, leaving us scrambling for answers. During the COVID-19 pandemic I was working for a large organization that had to make a lot of decisions very quickly, and we often didn’t fully understand or agree with those decisions and how they impacted our specific teams. It was deeply challenging. The uncertainty, the whispers in hallways, the feeling of being left in the dark—it all added to the weight of moral distress. When people don’t know why tough choices are being made, they start filling in the blanks with worst-case scenarios.

Transparency isn’t just about sharing information; it’s also about sharing what you DON’T know, which can help reduce the emotional toll of uncertainty. Even when the news is difficult, honesty helps people regain a sense of control and trust.   

Even when we can’t change the outcome, we can change how people experience it. Transparency isn’t about having all the answers—it’s about showing up with honesty, empathy, and a commitment to keeping people informed. That’s what eases moral distress, and that’s what builds trust in the long run. 

If you want more ways to build trust and transparency on your teams, check out this blog post.

3. Promote Healing and Empowerment

We all know what it’s like to feel powerless—to watch decisions unfold that you know will hurt the people you serve, all while feeling like your hands are tied. Moral distress is exhausting, and when we sit in that helplessness for too long, it can lead to burnout, cynicism, or even the decision to walk away entirely.

But here’s what I’ve learned: Even when we can’t change the big-picture decisions, we can reclaim autonomy in the spaces where we still have influence. Small choices, meaningful input, and moments of control can help shift the weight of moral distress into something more manageable. For more ways to build autonomy on your teams, check out this blog post.

4. Provide Supportive Supervision and Mentorship

I’m guessing that we’ve all been in situations where we faced impossible ethical choices—where no option felt truly “right” and every path carried potential harm. The worst part? Feeling like we have to figure it out alone. Moral distress thrives in isolation, and when people don’t have a safe place to process these dilemmas, they either shut down or make decisions out of fear rather than thoughtful reflection. The greatest gift I ever had as a leader was finding peers that I could talk to and confide in during the most difficult times.

Supportive supervision isn’t just about making sure people follow protocols—it’s about walking alongside them as they navigate the gray areas. It’s about offering guidance without judgment, giving people space to wrestle with tough choices while knowing they’re not carrying the weight alone. This might look like having some open office hours or increasing 1:1 meeting times through these uncertain times.

5. Encourage Ethical Reflection and Decision-Making

When we don’t create space to process ethical dilemmas, they don’t just disappear—they build up, turning into stress, self-doubt, and eventually, burnout. I’ve been there, wrestling with tough calls in silence, wondering if I made the right choice, and feeling like no one else understood the weight of it. But here’s what I know now: Ethical reflection isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s a necessity for sustaining ourselves in this work.

When we intentionally create time for open conversations about ethical challenges, we do two things: we remind people they’re not alone in their struggles, and we help them develop the skills to navigate moral distress with more confidence and clarity. This might include having this as an agenda item during team meetings or building it into your 1:1 meetings with team members.

6. Foster a Culture of Compassion and Self-Care

I used to believe that pushing through exhaustion was just part of the job—that if I cared enough, I would find a way to keep going, no matter the cost. But I’ve also seen firsthand what happens when we ignore our limits: burnout, resentment, and the kind of moral distress that makes even the most passionate people question if they can stay in the work.

The truth is, self-care isn’t a luxury—it’s a necessity. And as leaders, we have to do more than just talk about it; we have to model it. When we demonstrate that rest, boundaries, and well-being matter, we give our teams permission to prioritize their own health, too. This might include truly disconnecting when you take vacations, or leaving at 5:00 a couple of days a week to make the workout class that you love.

Moral distress thrives in environments where exhaustion is normalized. But when leaders prioritize compassion—including self-compassion—we create a workplace where people can sustain themselves in the work they love, instead of burning out from it.

Final Thoughts

Moral distress isn’t something you can eliminate entirely—but by creating a culture of psychological safety, transparency, and empowerment, you can help your team navigate it with greater resilience. Trauma-informed leadership isn’t just about policies—it’s about people, and how we show up for them in the moments that matter.

Which of these steps feels most doable for you right now? Let’s start there.

Over the next couple of weeks we’re going to start a deep dive into boundaries, so stay tuned.