To be unforgiving is harmful. The inability to come to terms with one’s anger or strife often can lead to stress disorders, mental health disorders, and relationship problems. Forgiveness is a personal decision. Forgiveness and Reconciliation focuses on individual experiences with forgiveness, aiming to create a theory of what forgiveness is and connect it to a clinical theory of how to promote forgiveness.
Key Features
- Evidence-based approach: Applicable for individuals, relationships, and society.
- Reconciliation methods: Restoring trust in damaged relationships.
- Research-based theory: Discusses the role of emotion and specific personality traits related to forgiveness.
- Transformation: Shows how forgiveness can transform personality and promote healing.
Additional Information
Dr. Worthington hopes that this theory will inform scientific research and improve intervention strategies. He describes ways a clinician can promote (but not force) forgiveness of others and self. Forgiveness and reconciliation might not be cures, but, as Worthington shows, they are tools for transforming both the self and the world.
