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Coming to Terms with Our Regrets

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Abstract

This article focuses on the personal experience of regret and the importance of coming to terms with our regrets. It begins with a sermon preached by the first author in which the issue of regret is explored by means of a summary of the film The Big Kahuna, continues with a discussion of recent articles (Tomer and Eliason, Existential and spiritual issues in death attitudes, 2008; Mannarino et al., Existential and spiritual issues in death attitudes, 2008) on the concept of regret formulated by Landman (Landman, Regret: A theoretical and conceptual analysis, 1987; Regret: The persistence of the possible, 1993), and on regret therapy, and concludes with a pastoral care case in which a dying woman expresses both future-related and past-related regrets. The case is interpreted in light of regret therapy’s emphasis on parabolic experiences and reframing techniques.

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Correspondence to Donald Capps.

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Carlin, N., Capps, D. Coming to Terms with Our Regrets. J Relig Health 48, 224–239 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-009-9238-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-009-9238-x

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