About This Event 11.00 - 13.00 CET

This two-hour workshop is designed for counsellors who work with clients caught in the long shadow of past harm. Drawing on the work and insights of Desmond Tutu, the session explores how not forgiving—while often a protective and understandable stance—can leave clients emotionally bound to those who hurt them.

Rather than promoting forgiveness as a moral requirement or therapeutic goal, this workshop offers a nuanced framework for understanding not forgiving as a position with psychological and relational costs. Participants will examine how clients can remain “at the mercy” of past injury, even when the harm is long over, and how forgiveness—when freely chosen—can function as an act of self-liberation rather than reconciliation or excusing abuse.

The workshop emphasises client agency, and readiness, equipping counsellors to hold complexity: honouring the reality of harm while gently opening space for freedom, choice, and the reclaiming of power.

Image from Freepik

Learning Objective Participants Can Expect From This Event

• Understand not forgiving as a meaningful and often protective client stance, rather than resistance or pathology.

• Identify the emotional and relational costs that can arise when clients remain bound to past harm.

• Articulate forgiveness as a potential pathway to agency and freedom, distinct from condoning, forgetting, or reconciling.