ABSTRACT
This chapter raises thorny issues about the place of forgiveness in our lives. When does forgiving strengthen us, and when might it detract? What might the clinician communicate, perhaps unwittingly, about our analytic culture’s and the wider culture’s assumptions about the benefits and drawbacks of forgiving (as well as the analyst’s personal beliefs)? In this discussion, it seems significant to distinguish forgiving harm from forgetting it and seeking to be forgiven from seeking to atone. Some relevant personal and professional experiences are used as illustration.
