Handbook of the Psychology of Self-Forgiveness

Part I: Understanding Self-forgiveness.- Orientation to the Psychology of Self-forgiveness.- Understanding Shame and Guilt.- An Evolutionary Approach to Shame-based Self-Criticism, Self-Forgiveness and Compassion.- Working through Psychological Needs Following Transgressions to Arrive at Self-forgiveness.- Repairing Meaning, Resolving Rumination, and Moving toward Self-Forgiveness.- Part II: The Causes and Consequences of Self-forgiveness.- The Measurement of Dispositional Self-Forgiveness.- Self-Forgiveness and Health: A Stress-and-Coping Model.- Self-Forgiveness and Personal and Relational Well-Being.- Self-forgiveness within Couple Transgressions.- Self-Forgiveness and Religious/Spiritual Struggles.- The Dark Side of Self-Forgiveness: Forgiving the Self Can Impede Change for Ongoing, Harmful Behavior.- Part II: Applications of Self-forgiveness in Psychopathology and Psychotherapy.- Part (a): Models and Modalities of Intervention.- Self-Forgiveness in Individual Psychotherapy: Therapeutic Models and Counseling Outcomes.- Group Intervention to Promote Self-Forgiveness.- Self-Forgiveness in Couple and Family Therapy.- Self-directed Intervention to Promote Self-forgiveness.- Part (b): Clinical Applications to Specific Domains.- Self-Forgiveness and Military Service: Equipping Warriors to Combat Moral Injury.- Self-forgiveness and Treating Personality Disorders.- Self-Forgiveness, Self-Harm and Suicidal Behavior: Understanding the Role of Forgiving the Self in the Act of Hurting One's Self.- Self-Forgiveness, Addiction, and Recovery.- Self-Forgiveness and Hypersexual Behavior.- Self-forgiveness at Work.- Self-Forgiveness and Pursuit of the Sacred: The Role of Pastoral-Related Care.- Self-forgiveness in Older Adulthood.- Conclusion.

Lydia Woodyatt is an Assistant Professor at Flinders University, Adelaide. Her research focuses on the psychological needs humans have following transgressions and the process of self-forgiveness. An award winning teacher, she combines her research in experimental social psychology with her previous career in pastoral care, speaking regularly to schools, universities, organizations, community groups, and the media on the topic of selfforgiveness,shame, self-compassion, and coping with negative emotions following failure and transgressions.

Everett L. Worthington, Jr., is Commonwealth Professor of Psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). He is also a licensed Clinical Psychologist in Virginia. He has published 35 books and over 400 articles and scholarly chapters, many on the processes of forgiving others and oneself. Over the course of his career, Worthington has administered millions of dollars in grant funding, appeared regularly in the media, and spoken across the globe with the intention of promoting forgiveness in every willing heart, home, and homeland.

Michael Wenzel is an Associate Professor in the School of Psychology at Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia. He has published around 70 journal articles and book chapters in the fields of social justice; justice restoration, forgiveness and moral repair in interpersonal and intergroup relations; social discrimination and tolerance between groups; and compliance with the law. He was the president of the International Society for Justice Research 2012-14.

Brandon J. Griffin is a doctoral candidate in the APA-accredited counseling psychology program at Virginia Commonwealth University. He has authored multiple manuscripts on the topic of self-forgiveness, including the largest randomized controlled trial conducted to promote self-forgiveness among interpersonal offenders. He currently develops and implements self-forgiveness interventions designed to help military service