Counseling and Values ■ October 2011 ■ Volume 56 25 © 2011 by the American Counseling Association. All rights reserved. Initial Validation of the Unfolding Forgiveness Process in a Natural Environment John S. Klatt and Robert D. Enright Although the literature on forgiveness is growing, little research exists on the process of forgiveness itself. This study was an initial effort to investigate the forgiveness process within a short-term longitudinal design. Participants (N = 41) completed 2 measures of forgiveness and a set of short-answer questions multiple times over 12 weeks. Participants made significant progress toward forgiveness, and the movement toward forgiveness was consistent with the Forgiveness Process Model (Enright & Fitzgibbons, 2000). The qualitative data collected begin to identify the mechanisms people use to move through the forgiveness process. Implications for counseling are drawn. A growing research literature suggests that forgiveness can be an ef- fective tool for counselors helping clients reduce anger and improve emotional health following unfair interpersonal treatment (Baskin & Enright, 2004; Ripley & Worthington, 2002; Rye et al., 2005). Forgiveness counseling and educational programs have been tested empirically with a wide range of populations, including adults in drug and alcohol treatment (Lin, Mack, Enright, Krahn, & Baskin, 2004), divorced individuals (Rye et al., 2005), children with divorced parents (Freedman & Knupp, 2003), women who have been emotionally abused (Reed & Enright, 2006), and youth at risk for developing aggressive behavior patterns (Gambaro, Enright, Baskin, & Klatt, 2008). Although the outcomes of forgiveness counseling and education have been the focus of empirical investigations, the process of forgiveness has received comparatively little attention. Understanding the manner in which forgiveness unfolds is important for continuing to improve forgiveness counseling. A complete understanding of the forgiveness process requires the examination of what people do to move toward forgiveness and how they move from one point in the process to the next. What cognitions, behaviors, or emotions help bring about forgiveness? What personal, social, or contextual resources do people use to move through the forgiveness process? Answers to these questions may help counselors develop treatment plans when the client’s goal is to forgive. To date, few researchers have investigated the forgiveness process. The research we present here addresses a gap in the current literature by studying how forgiveness unfolds over time. This study has two goals. The first goal is to identify what a person does on the path toward forgiveness. To this end, the validity of the Forgiveness Process Model (FPM; Enright & John S. Klatt and Robert D. Enright, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Wisconsin– Madison. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to John S. Klatt, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 1106 Temkin Avenue, Madison, WI 53705 (e-mail: jsklatt@wisc.edu).