A Model for School Counselors Supporting African American Youth with Forgiveness

The authors describe how practicing school counselors can appropriately and effectively work with African American youth regarding forgiveness. Further, the authors discuss the challenges that African American youth face. They illuminate how school counselors can help emotionally injured African American youth. As a school counseling intervention the forgiveness process can be conducted in a manner that is congruent with, and sensitive to, the development of positive African American ethnic identity. The use of forgiveness in school counseling is described, including the theory (Enright, 2001), and a case study, related to a process model of forgiveness.