Forgiveness as an Intervention in Contextual Family Therapy: Two Case Examples

Abstract

This article examines how forgiveness has been used in the past as an intervention in individual and family therapy and summarizes the contextual model of therapy which supports its use. The article also defines and explains the concepts of forgiveness and relational ethics as they have been used by proponents of contextual as well as other transgenerational models of therapy. Finally, the authors present two case studies as examples of how forgiveness can be a helpful intervention. The case examples are followed by data from follow-up interviews, discussion and conclusions.