A military veteran still carries the weight of war. A wife who
had an affair struggles to be free of guilt. A driver laments
killing a teenager in an accident caused by stormy weather. Why
can’t we all eventually, as the saying goes, forgive and forget?
That question and many others are being examined by two
researchers at Iowa State University conducting scientific
research on self-forgiveness and, in the process, developing an
innovative therapy for people dealing with regret. They don’t
wear lab coats or use high-tech equipment. And their basement
laboratory in Science Hall, as inconspicuous as it is small, is
a series of simple rooms where trained therapists meet with
clients. But their research goal could shift the paradigm of
traditional therapy for clients seeking forgiveness. Nathaniel
Wade is a trained therapist and associate professor in the
psychology department at ISU. He has a background studying
forgiveness, specifically in the area of clients forgiving
others for harms they’ve suffered. But in