REACH Forgiveness: A Narrative Analysis of Group Effectiveness

In this narrative review, the effectiveness of the REACH Forgiveness psychoeducational group intervention is examined. REACH is an acronym to cue memory for steps in emotional forgiveness: R = recall the hurt; E = empathize; A = altruistic gift of forgiveness; C = commit to forgiveness experienced; H = hold onto forgiveness. Overall, 24 studies that reported outcome data on REACH Forgiveness psychoeducational groups were tabulated and examined. Previous meta-analysis had found that effect size was linearly related to time spent in forgiveness intervention; thus, effect size (denoted by d, pre-post difference in means divided by pooled standard deviation) was examined per hour (i.e. d/hr) as an aid to qualitative comparisons. Overall, mean d/hr = 0.089. Those 12 REACH studies in which Worthington was a coauthor (i.e. the allegiance effect) had a d/hr of 0.093 versus 0.065 for the six in which he was not a coauthor. REACH Forgiveness with Christian samples (k = 9; d/hr = 0.107) had slightly better outcomes than did REACH Forgiveness with secular samples (k = 11; d/hr = 0.077). The effects of cultural adaptation (other than religion) were mixed. For clinical samples, only two REACH Forgiveness studies examined psychoeducational groups and two compared psychoeducation with process group therapy for forgiveness. Areas in which group psychoeducation using REACH Forgiveness was not effective (i.e. couple groups, pre-college youth) or less effective than alternatives such as do-it-yourself workbooks were identified. Best-practice standards for conducting group research on REACH Forgiveness were discussed.