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The Effects of a Forgiveness Intervention on Patients with Coronary Artery Disease

Martina A. Waltman
Douglas C. Russell
Catherine T. Coyle
Robert D. Enright
Anthony C. Holter
Christopher M. Swoboda
All your life you’re told forgiveness is for you. But we’re never told why it’s for you. It means you’re working on owning your life.
Shani Tran
Therapist and Founder, The Shani Project
Forgiveness is nothing less than the way we heal the world. We heal the world by healing each and every one of our hearts. The process is simple, but it is not easy.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu
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The Effects of a Forgiveness Intervention on Patients with Coronary Artery Disease

Martina A. Waltman
Douglas C. Russell
Catherine T. Coyle
Robert D. Enright
Anthony C. Holter
Christopher M. Swoboda
NO. of participants
Date
2009
Type of Evidence
Type of Paper
Primary Empirical Study
Empiricism
open access
Yes
No
sample size
32

This research assesses the effects of a psychology of forgiveness pilot study on anger-recall stress induced changes in myocardial perfusion, forgiveness and related variables. Thirty-two patients were administered baseline rest and anger-recall stress imaging studies, and 17 of these participants who demonstrated anger-recall stress induced myocardial perfusion defects (forgiveness group, n 1⁄4 9; control group, n 1⁄4 8) were randomly assigned to a series of 10 weekly interpersonal forgiveness or control therapy sessions with a trained psychologist, and underwent additional anger-recall stress myocardial perfusion nuclear imaging studies post-test and at 10-week follow-up. Patients assigned to the forgiveness group showed significantly fewer anger-recall induced myocardial perfusion defects from pre-test to the 10-week follow-up as well as significantly greater gains in forgiveness from pre-test to post-test and from pre-test to follow- up compared to the control group. Forgiveness intervention may be an effective means of reducing anger-induced myocardial ischemia in patients with coronary artery disease.

Research
North America
Mental Health Professionals
Supporting Research
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