The Effects of Forgiveness Therapy on Depression, Anxiety, and Posttraumatic Stress for Women After Spousal Emotional Abuse, is an article by Gayle Reed and Robert Enright (2006) that focuses on a study comparing Forgiveness Therapy and Alternative Therapy in emotionally abused females who have been separated for two or more years. Reed and Enright (2006) suggest that emotional abuse from a spouse is a serious problem and that nearly 35 percent of women report this type of abuse; this also means the occurrence is much higher than typically reported. In this study 20 women, who had been psychologically abused, ranged in age from 35 to 54, and had been separated from their spouse for at least two or more years, were instructed to avoid “false
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920). Clinicians have found ways to identify the different kinds of emotional abuse: passiveness, condemning, and mocking. Forgiveness Therapy helps these particular women focus on empathy and sensitivity for the one that abused them and remove any animosity or hate, while simultaneously refraining from ignoring or justifying their wrong doing to appease them. In their analysis, the authors of the study stated that participants who were involved in the Forgiveness Therapy component of the research would possibly notice a powerful effect on their ability to “spring back” after emotional abuse and that they showed a decrease in depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress with an associated increase in self-esteem in comparison to those who participated in the Alternative Therapy treatment (Reed & Enright, 2006). It was also found that participation assisted the participants in making more self-beneficial decisions. The Forgiveness Therapy was proven to be an effective contributor to positive psychological outlooks and provider of support for freedom from apathetic psychological effects through the enhancement of certain traits, such as …show more content…
I believe that when we forgive it aids in the healing process. Examples given in the article explained the kind of abuse some women go through and prompted me to make several personal observations. First, I pondered some of the things I have experienced in my own personal life; although I have never been physically, emotionally, or verbally abused, I have experienced suffering which has allowed me to lend a listening ear to younger generations in giving them advice on coping with suffering. My second observation focuses on how Reed & Enright (2006) described the difficulty for psychologically abused women to recover from spousal abuse and the time it takes to forgive the hate and anger that keeps them from letting go of the deception and their physical suffering. The authors also advised that Forgiveness Therapy is useful to enable an individual to disclose the pain and embarrassment, avoid the unnecessary hurt from the abuse, and providing the capability of living without the former spouse with the intention of giving up incapacitated grudges. One reason I selected this journal article was to gain more knowledge on the process of forgiveness. After reading this article, I have a slightly better understanding of Forgiveness Therapy and in the future I plan to obtain more research into Reed & Enright’s (2006) offerings on Forgiveness
920). Clinicians have found ways to identify the different kinds of emotional abuse: passiveness, condemning, and mocking. Forgiveness Therapy helps these particular women focus on empathy and sensitivity for the one that abused them and remove any animosity or hate, while simultaneously refraining from ignoring or justifying their wrong doing to appease them. In their analysis, the authors of the study stated that participants who were involved in the Forgiveness Therapy component of the research would possibly notice a powerful effect on their ability to “spring back” after emotional abuse and that they showed a decrease in depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress with an associated increase in self-esteem in comparison to those who participated in the Alternative Therapy treatment (Reed & Enright, 2006). It was also found that participation assisted the participants in making more self-beneficial decisions. The Forgiveness Therapy was proven to be an effective contributor to positive psychological outlooks and provider of support for freedom from apathetic psychological effects through the enhancement of certain traits, such as …show more content…
I believe that when we forgive it aids in the healing process. Examples given in the article explained the kind of abuse some women go through and prompted me to make several personal observations. First, I pondered some of the things I have experienced in my own personal life; although I have never been physically, emotionally, or verbally abused, I have experienced suffering which has allowed me to lend a listening ear to younger generations in giving them advice on coping with suffering. My second observation focuses on how Reed & Enright (2006) described the difficulty for psychologically abused women to recover from spousal abuse and the time it takes to forgive the hate and anger that keeps them from letting go of the deception and their physical suffering. The authors also advised that Forgiveness Therapy is useful to enable an individual to disclose the pain and embarrassment, avoid the unnecessary hurt from the abuse, and providing the capability of living without the former spouse with the intention of giving up incapacitated grudges. One reason I selected this journal article was to gain more knowledge on the process of forgiveness. After reading this article, I have a slightly better understanding of Forgiveness Therapy and in the future I plan to obtain more research into Reed & Enright’s (2006) offerings on Forgiveness