Forgiveness Therapy

Robert D. Enright, PhD, is a licensed psychologist and a professor of educational psychology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He has been a leader in the scientific study of forgiveness and its effects since 1985. Time magazine referred to him as "the forgiveness trailblazer." He is the author of more than 100 publications, including five books. In 2022, he received the American Psychological Foundation Gold Medal Award for Impact in Psychology for his innovative work in forgiveness. Dr. Enright and his colleagues have developed and tested a pathway to forgiveness that has helped incest survivors, and people in drug rehabilitation, in hospice, in shelters for abused women, and in cardiac units of hospitals, among others. His recent work has been in schools within conflict regions, such as Belfast, Northern Ireland, assisting teachers to deliver forgiveness programs to students.   Richard P. Fitzgibbons, MD, received his medical degree from Temple University School of Medicine in 1969 and completed his training in psychiatry at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia Child Guidance Center in 1976. He participated in cognitive therapy research in his training with Aaron T. Beck. Currently, he is the director of a private practice outside Philadelphia. Since 1976 he has used forgiveness therapy, and in 1986 he wrote a seminal paper on the use of forgiveness in psychotherapy. Dr. Fitzgibbons has presented at many conferences for over 40 years to couples, mental health professionals, educators, and business and church leaders on forgiveness therapy in the resolution of excessive anger in children, adolescents, and adults in schools, families, and marriages. He has made numerous appearances on radio and television discussing the treatment of excessive anger through forgiveness therapy.

Preface
Introduction: Why Learn About Forgiveness and Forgiveness Therapy?

Part I. Forgiveness as a Key to Healing in Psychotherapy

Chapter 1. Forgiveness Therapy: An Overview
Chapter 2. Deepening the Understanding of Forgiveness
Chapter 3. What Forgiveness Is Not
Chapter 4. The Process Model of Forgiveness Therapy
Chapter 5. Empirical Validation of the Process Model of Forgiveness

Part II. Forgiveness Therapy Within Specific Disorders and Populations

Chapter 6. Forgiveness Therapy in Depressive Disorders
Chapter 7. Forgiveness Therapy in Bipolar Disorders
Chapter 8. Forgiveness Therapy in Anxiety Disorders
Chapter 9. Forgiveness Therapy in Addictive Disorders
Chapter 10. Forgiveness Therapy in Childhood and Adolescent Disorders
Chapter 11. Forgiveness Therapy in Marital and Family Relationships Part III. Education, Measurement, and Going Deeper Within Forgiveness Therapy

Chapter 12. Forgiveness Education
Chapter 13. Measures of Interpersonal Forgiveness
Chapter 14. Skeptical Views of Forgiveness
Chapter 15. Moral, Philosophical, and Religious Roots of Forgiveness
Chapter 16. The Client's and Therapist's Legacy Appendix
References
Index
About the Authors