ABSTRACT
The techniques of expanding compassion, responsibility, and apology in the work of forgiveness with couples are based on the Restoration Therapy (RT) model developed by Terry Hargrave. The RT model is a family systems model that assumes all pain results from violations of identity and/or safety. The purpose of expanding the couple’s capacity for compassion, responsibility, and apology is to restore love and trust by re-establishing their connection to each other, restoring hope and trust, and making their commitment to build a new relationship explicit. Expanding responsibility stabilizes power by promoting action and agency. Expanding the couple’s capacity for compassion and love for themselves as well as for each other begins in the first two stations of Insight and Understanding. The stations of Insight and Understanding lay the groundwork for expanding responsibility, which is the heart of the work in the third station of forgiveness: Giving Opportunity for Compensation.
