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In fact, the participants in the forgiveness group showed minimal to no depression and anxiety while the participants in the alternative group showed signs of moderate depression and anxiety. Women who have been abused may have a hard time getting over the experience because they resent the fact that it happened and they resent the person who abused them but any kind of therapy that supports women’s expression of anger without helping them to find meaning in their suffering and teaching them how to forgive the abuser, may not be enough in helping them recover. Forgiveness therapy allows women to consider forgiving the abuser, make the decision to forgive the abuser, work to forgive the abuser, find meaning in their pain from the abuse, and realize their new purpose in life. The Enright forgiveness process calls this “uncovering, decision, work and discovery” (Enright and Reed,
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She did not want to forgive the man who had hurt her. I explained to her that forgiving the abuser did not mean that she was saying that he was right for what he did, and it did not mean that she wanted to be friends with him and build a relationship with him. It did not mean that she should forget what happened but it did mean that she was making a moral decision to turn the negative experience into something positive. She was freeing herself to be cheerful again. In using forgiveness therapy I assured my client that I empathized with her and I understood that she was hurting and angry. It was my job to let her know that it was okay for her to feel anger because she was hurt but I also had to explain to her that the longer she held feelings of resentment then the worst off she would be emotionally. Explaining to my client the positive outcomes of forgiveness helped her in making her choice to finally forgive the abuser. Because my client learned that forgiving the abuser would improve her negative feelings and low self-esteem, she decided to forgive the
She did not want to forgive the man who had hurt her. I explained to her that forgiving the abuser did not mean that she was saying that he was right for what he did, and it did not mean that she wanted to be friends with him and build a relationship with him. It did not mean that she should forget what happened but it did mean that she was making a moral decision to turn the negative experience into something positive. She was freeing herself to be cheerful again. In using forgiveness therapy I assured my client that I empathized with her and I understood that she was hurting and angry. It was my job to let her know that it was okay for her to feel anger because she was hurt but I also had to explain to her that the longer she held feelings of resentment then the worst off she would be emotionally. Explaining to my client the positive outcomes of forgiveness helped her in making her choice to finally forgive the abuser. Because my client learned that forgiving the abuser would improve her negative feelings and low self-esteem, she decided to forgive the