A Review of the Effects of Forgiveness Therapy
Liberty University

A Review of the Effects of Forgiveness Therapy
Reed's and Enright research on forgiveness has demonstrated that a forgiveness recovery program resulted in psychological benefits for women with a history of emotional abuse by a spouse or romantic partner. This review of Reed & Enright (2006) includes a summary of the article, a personal reflection of the material, and application points for future consideration. The article in review employed a case study format that puts forgiveness therapy and will be referred throughout this paper as FT and Alternative Treatment which will also be referred throughout this paper as AT under comparison in women who has experienced emotional and psychological abuse whom have been separated for 2 or more years with no interest on reconciliation. The main goals of the article were first to provide data that proves that FT is more beneficial for women as a therapeutic approach (Read & Enright, 2006). The two therapeutic strategies discussed in this article include: (a) Forgiveness Therapy, and (b) Alternative Treatment. The method of study was conducted of 20 women who fall into the description of psychologically abused between the ages of 32-54 from different ethnic, educational, racial and family dynamics. The design consisted of a control group that had limited contact with their former partner varied regardless of pre-existing children, were divided into 10 groups and one from each group was selected for FT and the rest was sent to AT. Control groups were screened using a posttraumatic stress symptom checklist. There was exclusion based on current involvement, history of childhood abuse, or ongoing psychiatric illness and suicidal ideations. Questionnaires were used to gather data along with 8 other instruments to gather data about their current mental