Department of Psychology

College of Humanities and Sciences

Current StudentsGive

Everett L. Worthington Jr., Ph.D., in front of a bookcase

Everett L. Worthington Jr., Ph.D.

Emeritus Professor

(804) 270-1898

Millhiser House, 913 W. Franklin St., Room 306

Office hours: By appointment

Curriculum vitae

Personal website

Counseling Psychology

Emeritus

Tenured

Faculty

Education

  • BSNE: Nuclear Engineering, University of Tennessee-Knoxville, 1968
  • SMNE: MIT, 1970
  • M.A.: Psychology-Counseling, University of Missouri-Columbia, 1976
  • Ph.D.: Psychology-Counseling, UM-C, 1978

Research Interests

  • Forgiveness Interventions (REACH Forgiveness; Six Steps to Forgiving
  • Forgiveness (within the Stress and Coping Forgiveness theory)
  • Other Positive Psychology Topics (Humility, Political Humility, Gratitude, Hope, Patience, Self-Forgiveness--interventions in each)
  • Religion and Spirituality (especially R/S in counseling and psychotherapy)

Select Publications

  • Worthington, E. L., Jr. (2026). Forgiveness and reconciliation: Theory and application, 2nd ed. Routledge.

 

  • Cowden, R. G., Worthington, E. L., Jr., Padgett, R. N., Felton, C., Bradshaw, M., Jackson-Meyer, K., Weziak-Bialowolska, D., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2026). Longitudinal associations of dispositional forgivingness with multidimensional well-being: A two-wave outcome-wide analysis in the Global Flourishing Study. npj Mental Health Research, 5(1), 3. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44184-026-00187-5.

 

  • Ho, M. Y., Worthington, E. L., Jr., Cowden, R. G., Bechara, A. O., Chen, Z. J., Gunatirin, E. Y., Joynt, S., Khalanskyi, V. V., Korzhov, H., Kurniati, N. M. T., Rodriguez, N., Salnykova, A., Shtanko, L., Tymchenko, S., Voytenko, V., Zulkaida, A., Mathur, M. B., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2024). International REACH Forgiveness intervention: A multi-site randomised waitlist-controlled trial. BMJ Public Health, 2:e000072.  (https://bmjpublichealth.bmj.com/content/bmjph/2/1/e000072.full.pdf)

 

  • Ortega Bechara, A., Chen, Z. J., Cowden, R. G., Worthington, E. L., Jr., Toussaint, L., Rodriguez, N., Murillo, H. G., Ho, M. Y., Mathur, M., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2024). Do forgiveness campaign activities improve forgiveness, mental health, and flourishing? International Journal of Public Health, 69, March 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/ijph.2024.1605341.

 

Affiliations

  • Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Virginia

Awards

  • Sharecare/Emmy Award for “Building Forgiveness around the World,” (Director, Richard Sergay); the story of REACH Forgiveness, 2021
  • State Council of Higher Education in Virginia (SCHEV), Outstanding Faculty Award, February 16, 2016
  • Elder Recognition Award for Distinguished Contributions to Counseling Psychology, Division 17, Society for Counseling Psychology, August 7, 2015
  • Doctor of Humane Letters (Honorary Doctorate), Pepperdine University, May 17, 2014
  • VCU University Award for Excellence, September, 2009

Links