THE PROBLEM OF FORGIVENESS, Dr. Mona Gustafson Affinto, PhD, LP

Brandt Jean forgave and embraced his brother Botham’s killer; his mother didn’t endorse it. Khalil Bashir forgave the Israelis who invaded his home and shot his son. Mary remains with an abusive spouse because her church teaches that she must forgive him. Helen can’t forgive her friend Lola because Lola’s son stopped dating her daughter. Janine was insulted when her classmate forgave her. Join Dr. Mona Gustafson Affinito in parsing the meaning of forgiveness. Leave with practical approaches to help clients with forgiveness issues. Emphasis will be placed on participant interaction.

Participants will learn the relationship of forgiveness to related areas of study such as attribution theory, gratitude, the development of a forgiveness attitude, institutional and environmental influences. Specific practices will be proposed for encouraging productive forgiveness in family settings. This is a three hour presentation.

Mona Gustafson Affinito, Ph.D., L.P., is an Emeritus Instructor of the Adler Graduate School and Professor Emeritus of Southern Connecticut State University with over forty years of college instruction and administration. Currently in semi-retirement she is in her forty-first year of private practice. Forgiveness has been of special interest for her, with the publication of two related books: When to Forgive and Forgiving One Page at a Time. She is also the author of the historical novel Figs & Pomegranates & Special Cheeses and is currently working on a family memoir, My Father’s House.