<p> This narrative inquiry explores stories of forgiveness among adult women who forgave their mothers after difficult relationships and are now doing well in their lives. The author addresses a lack of in-depth qualitative research exploring this topic and contributes to an understanding of forgiveness as a potential factor in an individual’s ability to do well. In this study, forgiveness is understood as a personal choice, regardless of whether there has been a restoration of the relationship. Two participants gave an initial interview, which was followed up by two validation interviews. The author analyzed the interview data using a holistic-content and categorical-content analysis method to produce two individual narratives and one common themes narrative. Seven common themes were co-constructed: (a) revisiting mom’s past and finding empathy doing so; (b) revisiting one’s own past and finding empathy doing so; (c) standing up for one’s self and finding self-empowerment; (d) a fracture in the relationship and separation; (e) reflecting and owning responsibility; (f) acceptance, forgiveness, and empathy moving forward; and, (g) finding gratitude and love. The findings add to the literature on lived experience of difficult childhoods and journeys toward forgiveness. Key findings are about empathy for self and others and may suggest that the literature on forgiveness has room to expand into this area of consideration. The findings may also be relevant as a consideration related to enduring anger or trauma.</p><p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:10931634 |
| Date | 12 February 2019 |
| Creators | Khatam, Behnaz |
| Publisher | Adler School of Professional Psychology |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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