Allister Baker Biography
My name is Allister Baker, and I am a military veteran and PhD candidate in psychology at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. I served as an infantryman in the New Zealand Army for more than a decade, including deployments to Timor-Leste and Afghanistan. During my service, I encountered experiences that deeply challenged my sense of morality, experiences that continued to shape how I understood right and wrong long after leaving the military.
In the years that followed, I struggled to reconcile those events with my values as a civilian. While studying psychology, I discovered the concept of moral injury and immediately recognised its relevance, not only to my own journey but to that of many other veterans seeking to make sense of similar experiences.
My current research suggests that actions considered necessary or justified within military culture, such as the use of lethal force, may later be reappraised as morally injurious once veterans return to civilian life. My doctoral research now builds on this work, exploring how veterans’ moral values evolve after service and how these shifts influence the persistence of moral injury. Ultimately, my goal is to inform better support for service members during transition and reintegration.
Lieutenant Pawel Cecha Biography
Rev. Kevin Denholm Biography
Revd. Nicola Frail Biography
Chaplain (MAJ) Dr. Davind Smith, PhD, is Chaplain with the Hospital Support Regiment, York, England, United Kingdom.
Matthew Hawkins Biography
Matt oversees the training of all Sports Chaplaincy New Zealand’s new Sports Chaplains and runs in-person workshops which help them become accredited and ready to serve. Matt is also the chaplain to Gymnastics New Zealand and the high-performance sports hub, AUT Millennium, where he is based.
An active learner, he has a BSc (Physics), LLB (Hons), Postgraduate Diploma in Business Management (HRM) and most recently a Masters in Chaplaincy. If he’s not in the office running the background of SCNZ, Matt is out tramping with his family, supporting all four of his multi-talented sons in their expansive careers, or working on a DIY job!
Dan Johnson Biography
Over my 20+ year career I have worked across public, private and corporate sectors, helping to deliver health and rehabilitation services in areas that include in-patient and community physical rehabilitation & mental health, vocational rehabilitation, Accident & Emergency, Insurance and with military veterans in my current role of 8+ years.
My additional Occupational Therapy international learnings include work experience in Romania and Vietnam (NGO Sector), alongside visits to Occupational Therapy schools and workplaces in South America, Asia, Europe and New Zealand
I have a passion for cross-cultural learnings which have led to guest lecturing and presentation across the globe, including most recently on the topic of Moral Injury at CIMVHR 2024 (Canadian Institue of Military, Veteran, Health & Research) and the Asia Pacific Occupational Therapy Congress, Japan 2024. This is in addition to accepting an invitation from Ukraine Society of Occupational Therapists to speak on the topic of ‘Developing the professional Identity of Occupational Therapists in the midst of war’.
Chaplain (Retired) Raharuhi Koia Biography
The trio’s passion for veterans and Moral Injury continued to develop and culminated in the delivery of a 90-Minute workshop at CIMVHR 2024, (Canadian Institute of Military, Veteran Health & Research), on this very topic.
All three presenters bring a wealth of knowledge, particularly in the military and veteran space, in addition to their own individual professional achievements, experiences and training. The three very different personalities bring a unique presentation experience which includes the exploration of the U.S socio-cultural contextualization of the military and Aotearoa Indigenous practices as part of a healing & recovery focus from morally injurious events and experiences.
Dr Daniel Saugh Biography
He currently serves as Chair of the Psychology Department and Assistant Professor at Burman University in the Faculty of Sciences. In addition, he is also the EDI director for the University.
As an academic psychologist and also as a registered psychotherapist he serves in a clinical capacity integrating whole person care with psychotherapeutic interventions. This includes being a lifestyle consultant with Paradise Health, a wholistic treatment centre, police chaplain in Canada, and clinical director of Mental Health. His research background includes trauma based research, lifestyle interventions, recovery, resilience, and human flourishing.
Chaplain (MAJ) Dr. David Smith Biography
Fr David is a Catholic Priest who has served as a British Military Chaplain since 2002. He began researching Moral Injury in 2017 as a result of his operational experience in Iraq and Afghanistan. He completed a Professional Doctorate exploring the dynamic interplay of military ethical formation, Moral Conscience and Moral Injury in 2024. He has an interest in Natural Law thinking as a framework for understanding Moral Injury.