Author Archive: directorifi
As another question that I have about forgiveness therapy, does the amount of time spent in this form of therapy matter? In other words, is longer better?
Yes, longer is better. Baskin and Enright (1994) showed that forgiveness therapy lasting 12 weeks or longer seems more optimal than short-term therapies. Longer therapies as more effective than short-term therapies also was supported by the meta-analysis by Aktar and Barlow. The references to these two journal articles are as follows:
Baskin, T.W., & Enright, R. D. (2004). Intervention studies on forgiveness: A meta-analysis. Journal of Counseling and Development, 82, 79-90.
Akhtar, S. & Barlow, J. (2018). Forgiveness therapy for the promotion of mental well-being: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Trauma, Violence, and Abuse, 19, 107-122.
You say that the biggest surprise you had when studying forgiveness therapy was its effectiveness when trauma is present in the participants. What was your second biggest surprise?
I think the second biggest surprise is that when people forgive and recover from the effects of trauma, they often develop a new purpose in life. That new purpose is to help others who also are hurting from other people’s mistreatment of them. This new purpose seems to give hope and vitality to those who were carrying a large emotional burden within them.
IFI Earns “Top Website 2022” Award
The International Forgiveness Institute’s website, a global resource for Forgiveness Education and Forgiveness Therapy information, has been named one of the Internet’s best websites of 2022 by TheGoodEstate.
The TGE-AWARD ???? – The Best Websites of 2022
Officially called “The TGE-Award,” the annual recognition is based on a point system that evaluates four unique site elements:
- User Experience (UX) / Usability;
- Privacy & Security;
- Information Content & Research; and,
- Services & Communication.
The IFI earned a remarkable 39 out of a possible 40 points in the multi-stage selection, survey, and rating procedure that was conducted by a team of US web experts. Only premier websites selected for the award can display the “Top Website 2022” quality emblem. Newspapers, trade magazines, portals, and foreign websites are not eligible for the award.
The IFI website is one of the most expansive forgiveness resources that exists anywhere in the world. Originally developed and moved online in 2011, the IFI website’s current iteration was built and customized two years ago by Meegaan Technologies, a website and mobile app design and development company in New Delhi, India. In addition to a robust index of 67 unique subject pages, the website features more than 2,273 separate blog posts.
For details about The Best Websites of 2022 Award selection process and evaluation criteria, visit TheGoodEstate website—a multi-thematic review website where users can find high quality information about all kinds of digital and physical products. TheGoodEstate is a project of Global Commerce Media.
How would you define forgivable offenses? To be particular, can someone forgive another’s failure or deficiency in character (even if there was no wrongful act committed by the person)? For instance, someone might be indifferent to me without meaning to hurt me, but I might still feel offended while knowing he or she didn’t do anything wrong to me. Thank you.
Deficiency of character will come out as behavior, either as a bad act (an act of commission) or as a failure to act when one should (an act of omission). When a person treats you with indifference, this is an act of omission because you are a person of worth and others should not treat you as if you were invisible. This, of course, does not mean that we have to pour ourselves out for everyone we meet. Your example centers on actual interactions which make you feel ignored. We should not treat others as if they do not count or have no worth (an act of omission). When this occurs, those so ignored can, if they choose, forgive the other.
From your reading, what is the printed origin of person-to-person forgiveness?
It seems to me that the first account of one person forgiving others is in Hebrew scripture, Genesis 37-45, in which Joseph forgives his 10 half-brothers for attempted murder and then selling him into slavery.
