Forgiveness Is a Process. Here’s Where to Start.

Whether you're carrying something heavy or simply curious about how forgiveness actually works, welcome.

You’re in the right place.

Forgiveness doesn’t mean forgetting. It doesn’t mean it was okay. It means you’re ready to explore healing on your own terms.

The REACH Forgiveness Workbook (below) is simple, free, and backed by decades of scientific research. Created by forgiveness researcher Dr. Everett Worthington, it gently guides you, one step at a time, through what it actually means to forgive, even when it feels hard.

DiscoverForgiveness.org

A Science-Based Path to Healing

DiscoverForgiveness.org is a digital hub curated by scientists, storytellers, and everyday changemakers exploring what it really takes to heal. Whether you're working through something hard, curious about the science, or simply ready to lighten your load, you're in the right place.

Millions across the globe have used this evidence-based tool to forgive, repair relationships, and release burdens they've carried for years.

An Easy-to-Follow Approach for Working Through the Process of Forgiveness

The REACH Forgiveness Workbook is simple, free, and backed by decades of scientific research. Created by forgiveness researcher Dr. Everett Worthington, it gently guides you, one step at a time, through what it actually means to forgive, even when it feels hard.

You can access the workbook directly in two ways:

Download it directly in English, Indonesian, Ukrainian, Mandarin, Spanish, and Portugese
Click and drag pages to flip through it below in an interactive page-turn format

You can also join Dr. Shawne Duperon, one of our partners at Project Forgive, for live Facebook walkthroughs of the REACH Forgiveness Workbook. With heart and humor, Dr. Shawne will guide you through the curriculum step by step, compassionately and in real time.

About the Tool

The science of forgiveness has provided exciting insight into how people forgive and the impact it has on us. Researchers and mental health professionals have applied these findings in the creation of tools to elucidate the process and help people to forgive.

The REACH Forgiveness workbook is one of those tools, and it has yielded impressive results in faith communities, educational settings, and with individuals who have sought out its step-by-step approach to reaching forgiveness mindfully. The largest-ever forgiveness study of its kind found that people who followed the REACH Forgiveness workbook showed significant reductions in unforgiveness, depression symptoms, and anxiety symptoms, compared to a group who was delayed in receipt of the workbook.

Well over 30 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have supported its use around the world in psychoeducational groups or with DIY workbooks. The REACH Forgiveness group protocol has been specifically accommodated for Christian beliefs and values and tested in large randomized controlled trials with Christians. Numerous studies document that secular REACH Forgiveness groups and DIY workbooks work equally well with other faith traditions.

The evidence is clear: the REACH Forgiveness model is an effective supplemental therapeutic and preventive tool.

Forgiveness in Action

Faith leaders, mental health professionals, and educators provide direct support, education, and counsel to people in their communities on why and how to forgive. Learn more about how this tool can be accessed and deployed by the practitioners bringing forgiveness to the world.

Flip through the panels on the right to learn more.

For Mental Health Professionals

Mental Health Professionals

REACH Forgiveness groups and do-it-yourself workbooks are highly effective for psychotherapy and can be utilized in group therapy sessions. Results are positive, including decrease in depression and anxiety symptoms and increase in hope and flourishing. REACH Forgiveness has also been proven successful in numerous studies as part of couples therapy.

For Educators

Educators

Tool creator Dr. Everett Worthington is a frequent collaborator with forgiveness education experts, and his REACH Forgiveness model has been shown to be very effective in educational settings, and in colleges, in particular.

For Faith Leaders

Faith Leaders

Though specifically tailored for Christians both as a group protocol and a self-guided workbook, REACH Forgiveness has been used in secular groups and with other religious denominations, including Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and others.