“I hate my Dad. Can you help?”
This afternoon I met with a new client for the first time. He had heard through a friend that I did something called Forgiveness Therapy and he wasn’t quite sure what that was. He knew that he had some bitterness and resentment in his life, especially towards his father. He was holding grudges from past wounds and hurts, and he was concerned that it was starting to impact his life.
“Do I really need to forgive?”
To make matters worse, the anger, bitterness and resentment he felt were now spilling over into other areas of his life. It wasn’t bad enough that he had a poor relationship with his dad. Now he was yelling at his kids and fighting with his wife too. It seemed to him that he was mad at one person, but taking it out on another. And then another. And then another. And he wanted that to stop.
What is Forgiveness Therapy?
Forgiveness Therapy is hard work. It is difficult to take a deep look at your wounds, work through your pain and bitterness, make peace with your past, and then move on. But it is powerful work, and the impact of successful forgiveness work can be nothing short of remarkable.
If you have deep hurts, resentments, or bitterness, then know that there is a way to work through these hurts. It’s not an easy path, but there is hope.
Dr. Michael Ballard began studying the importance of forgiveness as part of his doctoral work while studying for his PhD at University of Denver. He understood that forgiveness is an important part of anger work, and an important part of Christianity. He wants his clients to understand forgiveness is more than just ‘forgetting and moving on’. For more information on Forgiveness Therapy, call or click to request an appointment with Dr. Michael Ballard. To hear more about his approach to Forgiveness Therapy in anger management, listen to his appearance on the Church Chat podcast or read the transcript.
This article was originally published on MichaelBallard.net.
