Forgiveness

Forgiveness has emerged as a useful strategy within psychotherapy as a way of reducing unhealthy emotions and moods resulting from unjust treatment by others and aiding the client in psychological recovery. There is consensus in psychology that the definition of forgiveness includes these three components: first, there is unfair treatment toward the one who is doing the forgiving; second, the forgiver struggles to reduce resentment specifically toward the one who was unjust; third, the forgiver works on offering a merciful response of some kind toward the injuring person. That merciful response can include respect, compassion, and even love toward the injuring person. After further discussing the meaning of forgiveness and describing early empirical research on forgiveness, this entry focuses on forgiveness therapy.