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not occurred or had been forgotten. In his case References
he needed to feel the pain of the event, acknow- Enright, R. & Fitzgibbons, R. (2000) Helping Clients For-
ledge the layers of pain and anger caused by the give. . American Psychologist Association, Washington.
offence (shame, guilt, obsessive thoughts, life Enright, R. (2001) Forgiveness is a Choice. American
Psychologist Association, Washington.
changes, and changes in outlook) that had re- McNeel, J. (2010) Understanding the Power of Injuncti-
sulted from the abuse. ve Messages and How They are Resolved in Redecision
Therapy. Transactional Analysis Journal (40, 2):159-169.
• His freely chosen Decision Phase required McNeel, J. (2016) The Heart of Redecision Therapy: Re-
him to understand of the true nature of solving Injunctive Messages. In R.G.Erskine (Ed.) Tran-
sactional Analysis in Contemporary Psychotherapy. Kar-
forgiveness and to make a commitment to nac, London.
forgive. This did not mean forgetting what Sutton, P.M. (uploaded 2014) The Enright Process Model
had happened or saying that it was OK, but of Psychological Forgiveness. http://couragerc.org/wp-
it was an active decision to begin a process content/uploads/Enright_Process_ Forgiveness_1.pdf
of freeing himself of his liminal “prison of
unforgiveness”.
• The Work Phase required him to work on
trying to understand the offender, himself
and the nature of the relationship between
them. This required a reframing the stories
about the event so that he could see the of-
fender in a new light. At the same time as
seeing the abuse for what it was and reali-
zing that he was not to blame, he came to
a place where he was able to having empa-
thy for the offender. Enright (2000) poin-
ted out that thinking differently about the
offender precedes feeling more positive and
becoming more empathic and compassio-
nate. This process of beneficence cannot be
rushed.
• The Deepening Phase. In Mr van der Weele’s
case, he was able to use his experience po-
sitively in the final Deepening Phase when
he realized that there was meaning in suf-
fering. He felt more connected with others
and gained a renewed purpose in life. Freed
from the emotional prison of unforgiveness,
bitterness, resentment and anger, his ability
to forgive was deepened to the point that he
was able to have empathic regard in helping
another abuser through his ministry of bles-
sing others. The ministry of PowerfulPeace
is based on blessing others that brings to
mind the powerful words of Christ:
• Bless them that curse you, and pray for them
which despitefully use you. (Matthew 5:43-
44; Luke 6:28 KJV)
• This is a challenge to us all.

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