What We Do

Where there is no forgiveness, wounds cannot heal

Forgiveness is a complex matter. Often people ask: Why should I forgive? How can I forgive? What is the relevance of forgiveness in a situation of on-going conflict? What is the relationship between forgiveness and justice? If I forgive, surely I am condoning wrongful actions and allowing them to continue?

‘Not forgiving’ has become enshrined in culture, tradition, ideology. It is called revenge; an eye for an eye; just deserts; tit for tat; payback; vendetta.  As a result, we can end up cutting ourselves off from loved ones, family, friends. On a bigger scale, we can end up justifying murder on a small and large scale, settling scores that are hundreds of years old. It is considered the right, the honourable course of action.  And yet, bereavement counsellors frequently reflect that when a person is approaching their deathbed, often their greatest terror is not the physical pain, but the emotional pain of what they have not been able to resolve, forgive, let go of. Seemingly, it catches up with all of us in the end.
 

We don’t have to remain locked in the past. There is a way – a way to restore ourselves to our inherent humanity, where we can find understanding, compassion, hope for the future, and a true release from the bonds of the past, whether we need to forgive ourselves, or forgive others.
 

The 7 Pillars of Forgiveness

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The question that is often posed, is, “How do I actually start the process of forgiveness?  Are there any practical things I can do?”  Through the 7 Pillars of Understanding, Freedom, Remedy, Warmth, Enhancement, Hope and Continuance, Feminenza has created practical pathways, real steps that can be taken, to help people from all backgrounds walk the path of finding a better way. It recognises that forgiveness is a journey, and that the process is different for each person. It can be a short one or a long one. It can take a few days or a lifetime. You do not ‘have to forgive’. There are things you may never forgive. Feminenza’s programme provides tools, should you wish to walk that path.  How does a person, for example, develop the ability to let go of the pain associated with a memory?  Or how does one begin to understand that a person is more than their current actions and how does one therefore separate the person from the act, to enable both of you to move on?  How is it possible, for real, to let go of the pains of the past and move forward into the future?
 

The 7 Pillars offer profound access into our ability to forgive, and therefore go beyond the path of pain, revenge or violence.

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Feminenza Workshops

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1. Workshops on Forgiveness

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Forgiveness workshops are currently available, on request, in the USA, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Holland, Germany, United Kingdom, Ireland, Greece, Turkey, Israel and Kenya.

Examples of these are:

• A series of 1-day workshops that were provided for homeless women in the Cascade Women’s Program in Seattle, Washington, North America

• Workshops on the 7 Pillars as part of a 1 year course on the Role of Forgiveness in the Educational Encounter, for educators in the Gordon Teachers Training College in Haifa, Israel

• Workshops as an integral part of a two-year Young Women’s Leadership Program in Peekskill, New York

• 1-day workshops to women refugees in Denmark

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2. Workshops as part of Trauma Healing

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This workshop has been successfully offered to groups and communities who have experienced severe conflicts and violence and may have been carrying these traumas within themselves for many years, sometimes decades.

It teaches participants to:
 

• Understand the Pathways of Forgiveness and their role in PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) reduction

• Leave the past behind

• Move themselves and others away from the cycle of violence, by ‘re-humanizing the other’

• Foster empathy and mutual understanding, build trust

The Forgiveness process helps the participants to address, for example, deep issues of pain, hurt, shame and guilt, looking at them in a new light, enabling the participant to let go, to update the story that they tell themselves, to choose to live in the present and future, not the past.

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Being able to forgive others

Participants who have experienced hurt, betrayal, perhaps in a broken relationship, or even extreme trauma at the hand of others – rape, torture, abandonment – have frequently expressed a huge shift by the end of the workshop – from ‘I will never forgive’ to ‘forgiveness is an act of empowerment, I deserve it so that I can be free to live my life again.’
 

Being able to forgive oneself

Often participants feel responsible, rightly or wrongly, for having caused hurt to others, as well as being victims themselves. At one end of the scale, they may have simply made an unfortunate choice at some point in their life, with painful consequences.  At the other end of the scale, they may have found themselves in the role, willingly or unwillingly, of being a perpetrator committing acts of violence (e.g. in a war zone) – so alongside being able to forgive others, self forgiveness and taking responsibility is also a major issue to address.  It is what experts are coming to identify as moral injury: “perpetrating, failing to prevent, bearing witness to, or learning about acts that transgress deeply held moral beliefs and expectations”. In contrast to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, which springs from fear, moral injury is a violation of what each of us considers right or wrong. It is like a bruise on the soul, akin to grief or sorrow, with lasting impact on the individuals and on their families.

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3. Forgiveness Practitioner Training

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Becoming a Forgiveness Counsellor/Practitioner involves a certification process and is a unique training of the mind, the heart and the will.   Women and men are trained and then individually mentored to establish a project within their community, which can range from taking an active role in stepping down conflict and violence, to working with traumatized girls or women, helping vulnerable youth, to establishing the role of forgiveness in education.  The need for forgiveness is far-reaching and is applicable to all human lives, regardless of circumstance, creed or background. It is deeply human work.