Notes on: The REACH Method for Forgiveness

'The REACH Method for Forgiveness is taken from the course, 'Managing Happiness,' by Arthur Brooks on edX.org.

Introduction to the REACH Method

Research has shown that forgiveness benefits your health in several ways:

• It improves your relationships.

• It gives you peace of mind.

• It activates the part of your brain that reinforces positive adaptation.

• It makes you happier.

"[F]orgiveness means a willingness to go to any length to restore a broken relationship." - Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.

A simple tool called the REACH Method is an exercise that helps us forgive easier. First you need to find 15 minutes or so by yourself, then write down these 5 things:

• Recall the hurt the person has caused you.

• Find ways to empathize with that person and write down those reasons.

• Think of forgiveness as an altruistic gift that you can extend to that person.

• Commit to forgiving them.

• Hold on to that forgiveness.

The REACH model of forgiveness emerged as one of the most successful methods of implementing forgiveness. It is built upon the work of Dr. Everett Worthington, who studied the efficacy of the model across cultures.

It is about establishing a repeatable practice. It helps a person rethink the offense and perceive the offender in a different way, seeing the person as a human who makes mistakes. It also helps people find a sense of meaning in suffering.

Refusing to forgive someone typically does more harm to yourself than anyone else. You alone suffer without forgiveness. By extending forgiveness, you create an opposite effect and it will relieve you of those negative feelings sooner and boost your overall wellbeing.