Forgiveness Matters: Empowering Professionals to Facilitate Healing and Self-Forgiveness

Presented by:
Everett L. Worthington, Jr., Ph.D Commonwealth Professor Emeritus- Department of Psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University
Everett L. Worthington, Jr., Ph.D., is Commonwealth Professor Emeritus working from the Department of Psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he holds an affiliate appointment. He also holds a Faculty Affiliate appointment at the Institute for Quantitative Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University (Human Flourishing Program). He continues to be active in research and speaking around the world. He is a licensed Clinical Psychologist in Virginia. He has published over 48 books and over 500 articles and scholarly chapters, mostly on forgiveness, humility and positive psychology, marriage, and family topics, and religion and spirituality. He also has developed the REACH Forgiveness model (see www.EvWorthington-forgiveness.com for free resources), supported by over 30 published randomized controlled trials (RCTs), and has recently been tested in global grant-funded RCTs in 5 countries (six sites; N = 4,598), although the results have not been published yet. He has developed numerous other positive psychological interventions. Personal interests: He ballroom dances and competes in pickleball singles and doubles. He and and his spouse, Kirby, have been married since 1970.

Sarah Montana WGA Screenwriter, Writer, and Public Speaker
Sarah Montana is a WGA screenwriter, writer, and public speaker. She has written several screenplays for the Hallmark Channel, including “Rescuing Christmas,” “Love to the Rescue,” “A New Year’s Resolution,” and the Christopher Award winning “Two Turtle Doves.” Her play, "The Girl, The Ghosts, and the Minotaur" was a winner of the Life Jacket Theater Company's Proof of Concept Reading Series. She is sought after public speaker about resilience, trauma, and forgiveness, which has led to speaking engagements at TEDx, women’s conferences, corporate retreats, colleges, and podcasts. Her viral talk “What Shapes You Can’t Break You” (see her talk here or on Goalcast) was featured on Goalcast and now has tens of millions of views. Her TEDx talk "Why Forgiveness is Worth It" is featured on TED.com, has received millions of views, and has been incorporated into college curriculums and therapeutic practices. She is a Gateless Writing Method certified teacher and teaches students of all ages how to fall in love with the creative process. She’s also a representative for Film/TV/Streaming on WGA East Council. Stay in touch at sarahmontana.com, facebook.com/sarahmontanawriter or @sarahemontana.

Nathaniel G. Wade, PhD, Associate Chair and Professor of Psychology at Iowa State
Following his undergrad graduation, Dr. Wade worked for 4 years as an Addictions Counselor in both an abstinence-based agency and a methadone clinic. He then went to graduate school for Counseling Psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University. He finished his PhD in 2003 and joined the Iowa State faculty that same year. He is now Associate Chair and Professor of Psychology at Iowa State and Founding Director of Network Community Counseling Services. He is a licensed Psychologist in the state of Iowa and a Certified Group Psychotherapist. Nathaniel’s research interests center on the processes and outcomes of psychotherapy. Specifically, he has worked to develop and test interventions to promote forgiveness, to understand the impact of integrating religion and spirituality into psychotherapy, and to reduce the stigma associated with seeking counseling. His most recent interest is integrating exercise into psychotherapy. He has published three edited books, over 100 scholarly articles and chapters, and has received over 7 million in grant funding. He is an APA fellow of two divisions: Group Psychology and Psychotherapy and the Society of Counseling Psychology. When not working, he enjoys spending time with family, hiking in the mountains of New England, listening to podcasts and audiobooks while working outside, and playing soccer each week with the “over the hill” crowd.