Domestic abuse worksheets
Looking for a downloadable forgiveness worksheet for therapy clients? This article provides therapists with an overview of forgiveness therapy, its benefits, and a list of forgiveness therapy activities.
You can also download a free forgiveness worksheet for adults PDF to save to your electronic health record (EHR) for repeated use with clients.
What is forgiveness therapy?
Forgiveness therapy is an intervention that helps individuals uncover and process feelings of hurt, anger, bitterness, resentment, or betrayal toward the person who has caused their pain.
According to psychologist Robert D. Enright, PhD, who created the video program Forgiveness Therapy in Practice, anger is frequently at the core of a client’s issues, and it may play a central role in several mental health disorders.
Forgiveness therapy and the use of forgiveness worksheets can be incorporated into any therapeutic approach, such as couples counseling, trauma recovery, substance use disorder recovery, anger management, and as part of overall personal development.
Benefits of forgiveness therapy
The benefits of using forgiveness worksheets in therapy include:
- Decreases common mental health symptoms of depression, stress, and distress
- Increases positive emotions like hope
- Improves emotional regulation since practicing forgiveness decreases feelings of anger, bitterness, and resentment
- Strengthens interpersonal skills, including conflict resolution skills and communication skills
- Improves self-esteem, as clients empower themselves to face their feelings and resolve difficulties
- Enhances physical health, such as causing stress reduction and lowered blood pressure
- Provides greater resilience by empowering clients to cope with challenges by fostering an attitude of compassion, empathy, and forgiveness
Types of forgiveness therapy activities
Dr. Enright’s approach to forgiveness therapy is one of the most widely used forgiveness interventions, along with the REACH approach.
REACH is a five-step process that involves:
- Recalling the hurt.
- Developing empathy for the offender.
- Considering forgiveness as an altruistic gift to the offender.
- Committing to forgive.
- Holding on to forgiveness during challenging times.
Enright’s similar approach to forgiveness therapy includes the following steps:
1. Gaining insight into the depth of the client's emotion caused by the harm
At the surface level, this is often anger, but there may also be injustice, sadness, adjusting to the consequences caused by the offender, and an altered perspective resulting from the harm.
2. Committing to forgiveness
This step may involve psychoeducation about forgiveness using a forgiveness worksheet.
For example, forgiveness does not excuse the harm; instead, it is an intentional decision on the part of the person hurting to let go of the complicated feelings associated with the person who has hurt them, and the practice of compassion and other positive emotions.
3. Processing the pain and associated feelings caused by the offender
This step includes the practice of empathy, which involves understanding the other person's perspective, the injustices they may have experienced, and how those life experiences may have shaped their behavior in causing harm.
4. Gain perspective to see the inherent worth of all people
This includes the person who had harmed the client.
This might look like meditating and reflecting on the following phrases below:
- “May I be happy.”
- “May I be healthy”
- “May I be safe.”
- “May I live with ease.”
- “May you be happy.”
- “May you be healthy.”
- “May you be safe.”
- “May you live with ease.”
- “May all beings be happy.”
- “May all beings be healthy.”
- “May all beings be safe.”
- “May all beings live with ease.”
5. Letting go of feelings of resentment or bitterness
Through the practice of compassion, clients can begin to let go of negative feelings. This might involve practicing a loving-kindness meditation or cognitive restructuring exercises.
6. Finding meaning in the experience
Clients might discover a new sense of purpose, self-reflect on the client’s faults, and not let the harm taint the client’s life moving forward.
Other forgiveness activities that are listed in the forgiveness worksheet are:
- Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), including cognitive restructuring
- Relaxation techniques, like deep breathing and progressive muscle relaxation
- Loving-kindness meditation
- Visualizations that explore both positive and negative outcomes of forgiveness
- Psychoeducation about the long-term impacts of holding onto resentment
- Writing letters expressing hurt feelings
- Developing empathy for the offender
How to use the forgiveness worksheet with clients
You can download and use the forgiveness worksheet in several ways:
- In session to illustrate the process of forgiveness
- As a resentment worksheet to practice working through those negative feelings
- To empower the client to identify feelings underneath their hurt
- Provide the printable forgiveness activity sheets to clients to complete the activity in between sessions, then debrief at their next therapy appointment
- To promote self-reflection and identify areas of growth
Sources
- Akhtar, S., & Barlow, J. (2018). Forgiveness therapy for the promotion of mental well-being: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
- Enright, R., D. (2015). Forgiveness therapy in practice. American Psychological Association.
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