This new edition offers new case studies, new empirical evaluation, modern philosophical roots of forgiveness therapy, and new measurement techniques.

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! “[The Gift of Forgiveness] will spark conversations across families, across friendships, at workplaces, everywhere.” –Maria Shriver A fresh, inspiring book on learning how to forgive, with firsthand stories from those who have learned to let go of resentment and find peace. "When we learn to embrace forgiveness, it opens us up to healing, hope, and a new world of possibility." --Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt Written with grace and understanding and based on more than twenty in-depth interviews and stories as well as personal reflections from Schwarzenegger Pratt herself, The Gift of Forgiveness is about one of the most difficult challenges in life--learning to forgive. Here, Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt shows us what we can learn from those who have struggled with forgiveness, some still struggling, and others who have been able to forgive what might seem truly unforgivable. The book features experiences from those well-known and unknown, including Elizabeth Smart, who learned to forgive her captors; Sue Klebold, whose son, Dylan, was one of the Columbine shooters, learning empathy and how to forgive herself; Chris Williams, who forgave the drunken teenager who killed his wife and child; and of course Schwarzenegger Pratt's own challenges and path to forgiveness in her own life. All provide different journeys to forgiveness and the process--sometimes slow and thorny, sometimes almost instantaneous--by which they learned to forgive and let go. The Gift of Forgiveness is a perfect blend of personal insights, powerful quotations, and hard-won wisdom for those seeking a way to live with greater acceptance, grace, and peace. A PAMELA DORMAN BOOKS/VIKING LIFE TITLE

In our culture the belief that "To err is human, to forgive divine," is so prevalent that few of us question its wisdom. But do we ever completely forgive those who have betrayed us? Aren't some actions unforgivable? Can we achieve closure and healing without forgiving? Drawing on more than two decades of work as a practicing psychotherapist, more than fifty indepth interviews, and sterling research into the concept of forgiveness in our society, Dr. Jeanne Safer challenges popular opinion with her own searching answers to these and other questions. The result is a penetrating look at what is often a lonely, and perhaps unnecessary, struggle to forgive those who have hurt us the most and an illuminating examination of how to determine whether forgiveness is, indeed, the best path to take--and why, often, it is not.

This book shows how forgiveness-oriented Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) helps individuals and couples process and transform distressing negative emotions by accessing internal resources of strength and self compassion. Many individuals and couples come to therapy because of unresolved feelings of anger and hurt due to experiences of being wronged, betrayed, or violated. Over the past 20 years, Leslie Greenberg and his colleagues have undertaken clinical research to articulate a model of emotional injury resolution and map out a therapy-assisted path to forgiveness. This book offers step-by-step guides for conducting EFT and EFT for couples, along with analyses of extensive clinical case material. It shows readers how to: -promote clients' ownership of their emotional experience -empower clients to appropriately assign responsibility for harm done -help clients see themselves as having the personal resources and resilience to recover from the emotional injury Therapists will also learn to help clients determine whether forgiveness--with or without reconciliation with the injurer--is the right path for them, or whether therapy should focus instead on letting go of negative feelings.

This book introduces a new form of therapy - Forgiveness Therapy. Clear therapeutic methods are given to help heal resentments by forgiving. The awesome spiritual power to heal is in all of us and can be accessed by using the clinical forgiveness guidelines presented. Healing resentments can have a huge positive impact on a person's ability to establish and maintain long term sobriety. Healing resentments can improve mental health and significantly raise self-esteem. Real life stories testify of people who have forgiven terrible abuse and have finally experienced peace and joy.

At some level, most patients who are undergoing therapy have issues of revenge and forgiveness to contend with. Mary Sherrill Durham explores the concepts of vengeance, revenge fantasies, and the granting or withholding of forgiveness, as they are manifested to the therapist during treatment. She argues that revenge is usually expressed in one of two ways, and categorizes patients accordingly into two archetypes. The `Exploited - Repressive Individual' is anxious and depressed, and during therapy wishes to retaliate against a parent who has used him or her in an inappropriate and self-serving manner. The `Vindictive Character', on the other hand, has usually been more openly rejected or manipulated and may well suffer from a personality disorder. This character is more likely to act out his or her rage than repress it. Identifying a renewed interest in the topic of forgiveness, the author takes a pragmatic view of its potential for healing and closure, and examines our ambivalent relationship to it. Mary Sherrill Durham draws on her extensive clinical experience to illustrate her arguments, and relates them to society in general. She devotes separate chapters to revenge and forgiveness as they are expressed by children and adolescents, and by offenders. She also examines potential for the therapist/patient relationship to become a re-enactment of an abusive or controlling situation.