About the February 17 Forum
During a time when the world feels full of political conflict, racial disparities, and other injustices, the act of forgiveness is often neglected or ignored. However, harboring feelings of unforgiveness can lead to an ongoing state of negative affect that, in turn, can result in negative impacts on an individual’s mental and physical health. This aim of this forum is to discuss the impact of unforgiveness and the power of forgiveness. Dr. Everett Worthington, Commonwealth Professor Emeritus, at Virginia Commonwealth University, will discuss his work on the difference between decisional and emotional forgiveness and the impact of forgiveness on social, mental, and physical well-being. After Dr. Worthington’s presentation, attendees will have an opportunity to ask questions during the Q & A portion of the forum.
Watch the Forum
Speaker bio
Everett L. Worthington Jr., PhD, is Commonwealth Professor Emeritus at Virginia Commonwealth University and is affiliated with the Flourishing center under Tyler VanderWeele’s direction. He is a licensed Clinical Psychologist in Virginia, and he has published over 40 books and over 500 articles or chapters. He says that his salary retired in 2017, but he has not. Unable to kick the habit, he continues to do research on forgiveness (basic research and intervention research), humility, hope, religion and spirituality, and hope-focused couple counseling. Thanks to the wonderful help from the folks at Harvard, he is learning to be a public health scientist—slowly.
