IFI News
Forgiveness Therapy Can Work Better Than a Pill!
“Forgiveness therapy should be part of palliative care and it can work more powerfully than a pill,” Dr. Robert Enright told attendees at the Fifth Annual Healthy Aging Conference held in Madison on Sept. 9.
Dr. Enright, who pioneered the social scientific study of forgiveness beginning more than 30 years ago, has found that forgiveness increases happiness and a sense of well-being and may produce physical benefits by diminishing tensions, anger, resentment, and hurt.
“Forgiveness is surgery for a broken heart. You have the opportunity to do surgery and rehabilitation of the heart,” according to Dr. Enright. “Forgiveness offers understanding, patience, kindness, and even love to another person.”
Dr. Enright emphasized to Conference attendees that forgiveness is especially important for people to practice as they age. He said that is not only important for the health of an aging person but that older
persons also help establish their family as a “forgiving community” and teach their children and grandchildren about forgiveness.
The Forgiveness Program developed and espoused by Dr. Enright is outlined on the website of the organization he co-founded, the International Forgiveness Institute. It is detailed in several of the books he has written including:
Forgiveness Is a Choice: A Step-by-Step Process for Resolving Anger and Restoring Hope – This is a self-help book for people who have been deeply hurt by another and are caught in a vortex of anger, depression, and resentment.
The Forgiving Life: A Pathway to Overcoming Resentment and Creating a Legacy of Love – This book describes a process, followed with success by people around the world, to confront the pain; rise above it to forgive; and in so doing, loosen the grip of the depression, anger, and resentment.
8 Keys to Forgiveness – Dr. Enright’s newest book, just released this month, is a hands-on guide that walks readers through the forgiveness process in just 8 key steps.
Forgiveness Therapy: An Empirical Guide for Resolving Anger and Restoring Hope – Recently published by the American Psychological Association (APA), this manual is for Licensed Psychiatrists and Psychologists as well as other professional counselors.
The 5th Annual Healthy Aging Conference was hosted by Catholic Charities of Madison, WI – a private 501(c)(3) non-profit agency affiliated with Catholic Charities USA, the nation’s largest private network of people helping people.
Read more in the official newspaper of the Diocese of Madison, The Catholic Herald: “Catholic Charities conference focuses on healthy aging.”
Dr. Enright Featured at Healthy Aging Conference
Catholic Charities will host their Fifth Annual Healthy Aging Conference on Wednesday, Sept. 9 at the Sheraton Inn, 706 John Nolen Drive in Madison, WI.
The conference features two keynote speakers and eight workshops devoted to helping seniors, their adult children, and caregivers become familiar with the scope of alternatives that lead to positive and healthy aging.
Dr. Enright pioneered the social scientific study of forgiveness beginning in 1985 and currently works with schools in Belfast, Galilee, and 30 other world communities, helping teachers set-up forgiveness education programs. He is a professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the UW-Madison and a founding board member of the International Forgiveness Institute, Inc.
Curt Campbell, PT, NCS, ATP will present the noon keynote address, “Mobility and Successful Aging.” Campbell focuses on older adults with neurological issues including Parkinson’s disease, stroke, ALS, multiple sclerosis, vertigo, balance and mobility problems. He has been a Dean Clinic physical therapist for 10 years.
Conference attendees will be able to choose two workshops, one in the morning and one in the afternoon from a selection of eight:
- ”Dimensions of Wellness” by Gayle Laszewski, older adult program director, Goodman Community Center.
- “I Don’t Want to Move, I Want to Stay Independent” by Peggy Carroll, information and assistance specialist, ADRC.
- “Yoga and Fall Prevention” by Paul Mross RYT, LMT, yoga instructor/researcher and founder of Happy, Healthy Aging Preventative Programs: Yoga.
- “I have high blood pressure, not hypertension: Better Health Literacy Means Better Health” by Steve Sparks, director of the Wisconsin Health Literacy.
- ”Boost Your Brain Health: Your brain and how to keep it strong.” Tips to reduce risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia by Joy Schmidt, community education specialist at The Alzheimer’s & Dementia Alliance of Wisconsin.
- ”Diabetes Prevention: Your lifestyle, the easy, but not so easy
choices you make every day” by Paul Manning, chief mission advancement officer at the YMCA of Dane County. - Live Longer: Choose Hospice” by Melanie Ramey JD, MSW / CEO The HOPE of Wisconsin.
- ”Mind Over Matter, Brain Over Bladder” by Dr. Dobie Giles, chief of female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery in the UW ob-gyn division of gynecology.
Registration is open online at www.ccmadison.org or by mail. Visit www.ccmadison.org and download an invitation/registration form. For seniors and students, the fee is $35; professionals, $65. The registration deadline is Wednesday, Sept. 2.
Forgiveness: How Anyone Can Learn This Virtue
MercatorNet.com, North Strathfield, Australia –
The world is overshadowed by atrocities which cry out for justice – and forgiveness: the brutality of ISIS, the abductions of Boko Haram; the Boston Marathon bombing; terrorist attacks in New York, London, Madrid, Sydney, Paris; the Charleston massacre…
We asked Robert Enright, a psychologist and founding board member of the International Forgiveness Institute, as well as author of a new book, 8 Keys to Forgiveness, how some people manage to forgive even crimes like these, and whether it’s an art that can be learned.
That’s the introduction to an article published today by MercatorNet, an Australian online news and commentary site whose goal is “navigating modern complexities.” In the article, Dr. Enright explains:
- Why some people forgive while others remain full of hate;
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Why forgiveness is so much more than just a coping mechanism;
- Why forgiveness education should be a learning staple for all children; and,
- How forgiveness, including self-forgiveness, can be learned by anyone in the world.
“Forgiveness is about having love in the heart for those who have not been loving to you,” Dr. Enright explains. He adds that the “how to” of forgiveness, including even how to forgive yourself, is spelled out in his just-released book, 8 Keys to Forgiveness.
“Forgiveness is open to all people in the world if they choose to exercise this particular virtue when hurt by others,” the article quotes Dr. Enright as saying. “Our research includes people of many faith traditions, as well as those with no faith. When those who choose the forgiveness path finish the work, their well-being tends to improve as seen in the research findings.”
Read the entire article: Forgiveness: why we need to have mercy on the merciless. . .and how anyone can learn this virtue.
Dr. Lisa Gassin, IFI Founding Board Member, Receives Award for Academic Excellence
Dr. Elizabeth (Lisa) Gassin, a founding board member of the International Forgiveness Institute, received the 2015 Samuel L. Mayhugh Award for Scholarly Excellence from Olivet Nazarene University during the 102nd Commencement Convocation on May 9.
Dr. Lisa Gassin
Founding IFI Board Member
Dr. Gassin teaches courses in developmental and cross-cultural psychology. She has been an Olivet faculty member since 1995, except when she was working in Russia from 2000 through 2003. In 2007, she received Olivet’s Richard M. Jones Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence.
She holds degrees in human development; educational psychology with an emphasis in gifted education; educational and developmental psychology with minors in research and statistics and moral education; and marriage and family counseling. She focuses her research on the psychology of forgiveness, bereavement and play therapy.
Dr. Gassin has produced various publications and presentations on the topic of forgiveness. She is a member of the Association for Play Therapy and the American Counseling Association. Serving the greater Kankakee community, she provides counseling services and also volunteers with Hospice of Kankakee Valley.
She has earned a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, two master’s degrees — one from Purdue University and one from Governors State University — and a bachelor’s degree from the University of California-Davis. Currently, she is in a specialized graduate research program in 
qualitative research methods with Nova Southeastern University.
“Dr. Gassin is an outstanding example for our students of scholarly achievement, Christian service and compassion for others,” said Dr. Dennis Crocker, vice president for Academic Affairs. “Her commitment to learning and growing, both as a professor and an academic leader, continues to inspire others.”
Olivet Nazarene University is an accredited Christian, liberal arts university offering more than 120 areas of undergraduate and graduate study. Olivet’s main campus is in Bourbonnais, Illinois, 50 miles south of Chicago.
Read Dr. Gassin’s full Curriculum Vitae.
8 Keys to Forgiveness: Dr. Enright’s New Book Unlocks the Forgiveness Process
While it may seem like a simple enough act, forgiveness is a difficult, delicate process that, if executed correctly, can be a profoundly moving and deep learning experience. Whatever the scenario may be—whether you need to make peace with a certain situation, with a loved one or 
friend, or with a total stranger—the process of forgiveness is an art and a science.
8 Keys to Forgiveness is a how-to guide by the man Time magazine has called “the forgiveness trailblazer”—Dr. Robert Enright, who has researched, developed and implemented forgiveness education programs for the past 30 years.
This hands-on guide walks readers through the process in 8 key steps. How can we become forgivingly “fit”? How can we identify the source of our pain and inner turmoil? How can we find meaning in what we have suffered, or learn to forgive ourselves? What should we do when forgiveness feels particularly hard? All these questions and more are answered here, leading us to become more tolerant, compassionate, and hopeful human beings.
“This book has the potential to enrich and improve more lives than any psychology book in decades,” according to Frank Farley, Ph.D., former President of the American Psychological Association. “Robert Enright is the pioneer of the psychology of forgiveness, and his great wisdom, experience, and very practical advice are all compiled in this highly readable guide. Don’t give up on forgiveness in your life until you read this book and try its proven strategies.” (Read more reviews and endorsements here.)
Dr. Enright’s latest book is officially publishing September 28 but will be available directly from W. W. Norton & Company for mid-June delivery at the W.W. Norton & Company website.
