E39: Free to Forgive

Course Overview

CE Hours

3 CE Credits

Course Description

Free to Forgive: Healing Conflicts examines the nature, process, and healing power of forgiveness in personal, professional, and spiritual life. This course defines therapeutic forgiveness, explores the five steps of granting and asking for forgiveness, examines forgiveness at the individual, group, self, and spiritual levels, distinguishes forgiveness from reconciliation, pardoning, and condoning, and explores the cognitive, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of the forgiveness process. Drawing from research in counseling, moral education, and evolutionary biology, learners will gain a comprehensive understanding of forgiveness as a tool for healing, health, and ethical living.

Course Learning Objectives

At the end of this course, learners will be able to:

  1. Define healing forgiveness and therapeutic forgiveness and explain their importance for the forgiver’s health and wellness
  2. Apply the five steps of granting forgiveness to individual and group conflicts
  3. Describe how group forgiveness applies to nations, enemies, and intergroup conflicts using evidence from research
  4. Explain the concept of forgiving God and forgiving self and describe the steps involved in self-forgiveness
  5. Describe the five steps an offender should take in asking for forgiveness
  6. Differentiate forgiveness from reconciliation, pardoning, condoning, and forgetting
  7. Identify the three degrees of forgiveness — detached, limited, and full — and the ABCs of forgiveness framework
  8. Describe the cognitive, emotional, and spiritual levels of forgiveness and explain how each supports healing
  9. Apply forgiveness research findings from counseling and moral education to professional health care settings

Course Format and Faculty

Course Format:

Online linked resources and lectures available anytime, 24/7. Includes one multiple-choice exam taken at the end of the course. A passing grade of 75% is required. Upon passing, learners may print their certificate immediately.

Course Developers and Instructors:

R. Klimes, PhD, MPH (Johns Hopkins University) is a scholar and author in health-related research, health behaviors, ethics, end-of-life care, and overall wellness. He has written numerous research reports and books and has held academic and leadership roles in higher education and public health internationally.

Course Time:

Approximately 3 hours for online study, test taking, course evaluation feedback, and certificate printing.