01/04/2026
This right here is what EPT is all about - From the words of my sweet friend Tammy đź’•
As a holistic mental health therapist, I often remind clients—and myself—that forgiveness is not a spiritual bypass or an emotional shortcut.
Especially when there is no apology.
Forgiving someone who never acknowledged the harm taught me this:
healing does not require another person’s awareness, remorse, or growth.
Healing is an internal, sacred process.
From a faith perspective, forgiveness is not about excusing behavior—it’s about releasing what keeps the nervous system locked in survival. Chronic resentment lives in the body: the tension, the hypervigilance, the grief that never fully settles. Scripture speaks of peace that guards the heart and mind—and modern psychology confirms it: unresolved pain costs us emotionally, physically, and spiritually.
Forgiveness, when done honestly, is not forced or rushed.
It happens after truth is honored.
After anger is allowed.
After boundaries are set.
Grace does not mean access.
Compassion does not mean reconciliation.
And forgiveness does not mean the wound didn’t matter.
I forgave without an apology not because the harm was small, but because my wholeness is holy. I chose to stop waiting for someone else’s repentance to validate my pain. I released it to God, to my body, to the long work of healing—so it would no longer live inside me as bitterness.
That was not weakness.
That was integration.
That was freedom.
Interested In starting your healing journey? The Forgiveness Connection, LLC can help. Give us a call today. (843)708-9764
Tammy
Tamela Reed