Forgiveness and Theology

Theology and Spirituality in Counseling Intervention Studies on Forgiveness The article Intervention studies on forgiveness: A meta-analysis, addresses the idea of forgiveness from a counseling perspective. Three different types of categories were considered by the authors. These were decision-based interventions, along with two types of process-based interventions. One of those was individual and the other was with groups. There were nine published studies used to gather the data for the article, which equated to 330 participants' information being collected and analyzed.

Theories of forgiveness were also reviewed, in an effort to examine why people choose to forgive or not forgive, and how that forgiveness may or may not play into their faith and other types of beliefs. The groups that were studied also included a control group, in order to ensure that the information drawn from the study was truly applicable to more than just the study participants. The study looked at forgiveness, as well as other measures of emotional health.

It found that there was no effect seen from the interventions that were decision-based, but that process-based group interventions showed some effect. The largest effect was from the process-based individual interventions, which showed significantly large effects. That was very important to the study, because it provided the authors with the understanding that forgiveness in clinical settings through the use of process-based interventions could be highly valuable for a number of people.

It also helped to indicate that forgiveness is truly a process, and that simply making a decision to forgive someone may not be enough to adequately do so. Some people need more than that decision to move past hurt that has been brought on by another person, and a clinical setting can help with that. Reflection When it comes to studies that have been done on forgiveness, the article provides a lot of good insight in compiling past information and analyzing it properly.

The study is a good way to see that there are many different ways to work toward forgiving someone, and that not all of them are equally effective. While that is unfortunate for people who are trying to forgive and having trouble doing so, it is important to remember that forgiveness is different for each person. Some of them struggle to forgive even the smallest infraction, while others are capable of forgiving very serious crimes and related difficult behavior.

It may be about the person and what he or she chooses to allow, but it can also be about how the idea of forgiveness is presented to that person. A decision-based option does not seem to be as effective as a process-based option. This would make sense, because deciding to forgive someone is a process, even though there is ultimately a decision at the end of that process.

The process is also very individualized, which would indicate why the individual process-based option worked better than the group-based option when it came to truly helping people forgive and move past any issues they were facing with another person. There are times when forgiving is very difficult, and it can help to see that others in the group are having similar experiences. However, that does not mean that the actual way a person forgives is going to be the same as other people in the group.

That is where the individual process issue appears to be most significant, because it gives each person the opportunity to decide how they are going to forgive and focus on that so they are able to let go of the feelings of anger, disappointment, and related issues they have regarding another person. With forgiveness having so much value for the individual, it is important that each person who needs to forgive others -- and themselves -- find a way to do so adequately.

Application The work in this article is particularly significant for counseling, and can easily be used to address spiritual issues, as well. When a person needs to forgive, there may be the need to seek counsel with other people and explore the value of forgiveness. Additionally, there may be ways in which the person feels he or she cannot forgive, and that has to be addressed in order to allow that person to get past those perceived "roadblocks" in order to find the necessary forgiveness.

Because it is a process that culminates in a decision, more focus has to be put on the process of forgiveness and less on the actual decision that comes from it. Ultimately, if the process is correct and carried out, the decision will come from it naturally, and will not be so much an actual decision as a realization of the truth of the matter and the value of forgiving, letting go, and moving on. This is a vital part of counseling for nearly.