Loren Toussaint

“Do not try to satisfy your vanity by teaching a great many things. Awaken peoples’ curiosity. It is enough to open minds; do not overload them. Put there just a spark. If there is some good flammable stuff, it will catch” —Anatole France

I teach several courses at Luther, including:

• General Psychology (Psyc 130)
• Psychology of Forgiveness (Psyc 180)
• Health Psychology (Psyc 241)
• Behavioral Statistics (Psyc 350)
• Stress, Coping, and Well-Being (Psyc 356)

Courses I have previously taught:

• Careers in Psychology
• Tests and Measurements
• Senior Seminar
• Behavioral Medicine
• Graduate Advanced Statistics
• Graduate Multivariate Analysis

The Forgiveness Initiative is a central thrust of the Laboratory for the Investigation of Mind, Body, and Spirit that seeks to promote and support projects that focus on forgiveness education and research. Two examples of this work are described here:

1) In the summer of 2007, two Luther students and I embarked on a trip to Sierra Leone in order to apply forgiveness research to those struggling in the aftermath of a civil war. There was a lot of pain and suffering in the Sierra Leone region as a result of their decade long civil war, and I felt offering some training and some curriculum materials would hopefully provide a sustainable mechanism through the school. This aimed to help the younger generations to see the atrocities of the past through something of a more forgiving light.

This work has become known as the Sierra Leone Forgiveness project and relies on the collaboration and support Drs. Nancy Peddle and Frederic Luskin. Together we have continued to build momentum for spreading the message of forgiveness in Sierra Leone. Highlighting this work was a week-long forgiveness seminar that took place at Stanford University in the summer of 2011. Following this training, our colleagues from Sierra Leone have spent countless days doing forgiveness education and documenting their effectiveness through quantitative and qualitative assessments.

2) In 2010, renowned forgiveness expert, Dr. Everett Worthington, visited Luther College to kickoff a semester-long forgiveness BLITZ! This forgiveness education initiative focused on bringing greater awareness and appreciation of forgiveness to Luther College students. The entire student body was assessed during the semester at five different time points to track changes in attitudes and perceptions. The BLITZ had important effects on forgiveness and other pro-social and religious experiences of the students.

The Laboratory for the Investigation of Mind, Body, and Spirit at Luther College actively seeks opportunities to be involved in these types of projects that promote forgiveness and rigorously evaluate the effectiveness of these programs through sound science.

3) Recently, we have been focusing on the utility of forgiveness in individuals with medical conditions. Many patients with chronic medical conditions report forgiveness issues, and efficient and effective means of helping patients with these issues are currently being developed and tested in collaboration with colleagues at Mayo Medical Center and Cancer Treatment Centers of America.

View one approach that we’ve developed to helping people with forgiving others.

Here are articles and interviews regarding my forgiveness research that have been in the popular media:

• Science of Happiness Podcast
• Greater Good Magazine
• YouthTime Magazine Part 1 and Part 2
• Holding a Grudge Can Make You Sick: How Your Health Depends on Forgiveness
• The Surprising Key to a Good Night’s Sleep, According to Science
• Anger is Normal. But Scientists Say the Toxic Kind Can Shorten Your Life.
• Gauchazh: The power of forgiveness is the remedy against a worldwide epidemic  (in Portuguese)
• The power of forgiveness: Eliminating anger is a moral virtue (in Portuguese)
• The power of forgiveness: Know the nine-step technique and the REACH method (in Portuguese)
• I’M taking charge: Why is forgiveness so important to cancer patients version 1 and version 2
  
• I’M taking charge: Taking back what cancer took from me, 3 Q&A on Forgiveness and Cancer with a Leading Expert
• Greater Good, How to Build a More Forgiving Community
• GreatSchools, Why Teach Kids to Forgive
• PsyPost, Study Finds that Long Term Stress and Pessimism are Linked
• American Psychological Association’s Monitor on Psychology, Forgiveness Can Improve Mental and Physical Health
• Wisconsin Public Radio, If You Want to Feel Less Pain, Choose Forgiveness
• Psychology Today, Forgiving is Good for You: You Don’t Have to Minimize Your Pain to Let it Go
• Greater Good, “The Power of Forgiveness at Work”
• BYUradio, “Short Circuiting, Kids and Politics, Forgiving Others“
• Worthington Daily Globe, Forgiveness: Toussaint Studies Benefits of Releasing Hate
• Tapping into the Healing Power of Forgiveness, WHYY Radio online and audio
• 24-7 pressrelease, Forgiveness Leads to Improved Physical, Mental, and Spiritual Health States
• The Big Issue, The Benefits of Forgiveness
• Global News (Canada) Why Forgiving Others Will Improve Your Physical, Emotional Health
• Huffington Post Forgiveness is Good for Your Health
• TIME.com, Forgiving Other People Is Good for Your Health
• Good Magazine, Forgiveness Does Wonders for Mental Health
• The Bridge with Kena Drumgo
• On Second Thought, Georgia Public Broadcasting, The Science of Forgiveness
• CNN, Does Death Penalty Bring Closure?
• Huffington Post, 8 Ways Forgiveness is Good for Your Health
• Latercera (Chilean Newspaper), And there is no way to apologize
• Oxford University Press’ Academic Insights for the Thinking World, Forgiveness Makes Late-Life Sweeter
• TODAY.com, How Do You Forgive A Killer?
• Wisconsin Public Radio, At Issue with Ben Merens, Forgiveness
• Psychology Today, Live Longer by Practicing Forgiveness
• Patheos, Forgiveness May Affect Longevity
• Good Lifestyle, Forgive to Live
• Oral Care and Health Daily, “Letting Go of Grudges Helps Your Health“
• DesMoinesRegister.com, “Grudges are hard on your heart, study contends“
• Pacific Standard Magazine, “Forgive and Get Healthy“
• NewYorkTimes.com, “Letting Bygones Be Bygones is Often a Challenge“
• Ladies’ Home Journal, “Let it Go, Holding Grudges Affects Your Health“
• LosAngelesTimes.com, “We May Be Hard Wired to Let Bygones Be Bygones“
• BreakingChristianNews.com, “Professor Takes Forgiveness Therapy to Mayo“
• Greater Good, University of California-Berkeley, “Is Anything Unforgivable?“
• Scotsman.com, “Power to Forgive“
• Medscape.com, “Anger Linked to Pain in Women With and Without Fibromyalgia”

Don’t be shy about asking me for a letter of recommendation

Once I agree, email me:

1. Your majors/minors.
2. A list of courses you’ve taken from me.
   If you want me to mention your grade, please remind me of what it was. Same goes for your overall GPA. If you want me to comment on it, especially if you think it’s too low, please tell me what it is and comment on any reasons for that.
3. A list of all outside-the-classroom experiences that we’ve had.
   For instance, were you on my research team? If so, how many projects did you work on? How many presentations did you do? What were your responsibilities?
4. A short list of all the most important campus activities you were involved in.
   For instance, were you in choir? Were you a member or officer of a club?

Reference Consent Form

The resources below guide students to important websites that help explain how to know what jobs and graduate programs are available, and how to use your psychology major to get a job or gain admission to a graduate program. The links here also provide good advice on how to be a good psychology student.

Things to Think About if You Are a College Student

If It’s Interesting, It’s Complex Too

Its Not About You

The Busy Trap

What life asks of us

Undergraduate Research

A Profile of Undergraduate Research Submission to APA

Getting the Most from Psychology Conferences

Careers in Psychology

What you can do with a psychology degree

172 Psychology and Psychology-Related Careers

Building a Customized Career List for Psychology Majors

Careers in Nursing for Psychology Majors

Clinical Versus Counseling Psychology: What’s the Diff

O*Net (occupation and career information resource)

Occupations of Interest to Psychology Majors

Psychology Career Resources Guide

Psychology Degree 411

Psychology.org

Undergraduate Research Experience: Preparation for the Job Market

Graduate School

Alternative Master’s Degree Programs for Psychology Majors

APA Office of Graduate and Postgraduate Education and Training

Getting Involved and Getting Into Graduate School (A Student’s Perspective)

Graduate Admissions in Psychology: II. Acceptance Rates and Financial Considerations

How to Avoid the Kisses of Death in the Graduate School Application Process

Interfolio (managing letters of reference)

Masters in Psychology

More on Masters Degrees in Psychology

New Odds for Graduate Admissions in Psychology

Openings in Graduate Programs with Unfilled Classes

Psychology Degree Guide

Relative Weighting of Admissions Variables in Development Psychology Doctoral Programs

www.phds.org

Good Examples of Graduate School Application Materials

Curriculum Vita (CV)

The following links provide information on professional organizations, some of which sponsor regular conferences that we have presented at.

American Psychological Association

Association for Psychological Science

Australian Conference on Spirituality and Health

Center for Disease Control

Center for the Study of Health, Religion, and Spirituality (Indiana State)

Duke Center for Spirituality, Theology, and Health

International Positive Psychology Association

Iowa Department of Public Health

Iowa Public Health Association

Midwestern Psychological Association

Mid-Year Research Conference on Religion and Spirituality

Society for Behavioral Medicine

Society for Spirituality, Theology, and Health

Society for the Scientific Study of Religion

Thomson Reuters

University of Minnesota Center for Spirituality and Healing

W.K. Kellogg Foundation-Food and Fitness

The EASP conference

Conflicts across family settings, schools, neighborhoods, work place, and wider communities and nations, social media, etc. can all exert an adverse impact on individuals, threaten their identity, undermine their quality of life as well as harm their mental and physical health. Such conflicts can be further exacerbated due to environmental pressures, such as poverty, climate change, economic crises, international shake-ups (e.g., Brexit), etc.

Based on recent advancements of social psychological theory and research, we have identified seven major hot topics which are key to understanding difficult relationships. These are: forgiveness, apology, justice, trust, respect, hope, and power.

This meeting created an important space for the multifaceted analysis of different perspectives on the psychology of challenging relationships. This broad focus offered researchers who study some of the above concepts from an intergroup perspective to converse and exchange with scholars with interests in similar topics but from an interpersonal perspective. Similarly, scholars who study these concepts among children were afforded the opportunity to discuss their theories and empirical work with scholars who focus on adults, and vice versa.

Currently, researchers disparately theorize and produce empirical work on one or at most two of these concepts. This conference brought together researchers and practitioners from around the world and provided them with a space in which they could integrate their theories and see the bigger and more complex picture framing difficult relationships. In so doing, this meeting moved the field towards the next step in developing meta-theoretical approaches to and social
psychological taxonomies of such challenging relationships.

Collaborators

• Jameson Hirsch
• Niko Kohls
• Martin Offenbaecher
• Fuschia Sirois
• Loren Toussaint
• Christian Vajda
• Annemarie Weber

ICHIPMAP collaborators clockwise from lower left, Christian Vajda, Jameson Hirsch, Loren Toussaint, Fuschia Sirois, Annemarie Weber, and Niko Kohls.

Publications

1. Sanftenberg, L., vanDyck, M., Bucksch, J., Weber, A., Schelling, J., Kohls, N., Sirois, F., Toussaint, L., Hirsch, J., & Offenbächer, M. (2019). Körperliche Aktivität und potenzielle Korrelate bei Hämodialysepatienten [Physical activity and potential correlates in hemodialysis patients]. Prävention und Gesundheitsförderung, 14, 290-297. doi: 10.1007/s11553-018-0681-y
2. Toussaint, L., Sirois, F.M., Hirsch, J.K.,Kohls, N., Weber, A., Schelling, J., Vajda, C., & Offenbächer, M. (2019). Anger rumination mediates differences between fibromyalgia patients and healthy controls on mental health and quality of life. Personality and Mental Health, 13: 119–133. doi: 10.1002/pmh.1445.
3. Rowe, C.A., Sirois, F.M., Toussaint, L., Kohls, N., Nöfer, E., Offenbächer, M. & Hirsch, J.K. (accepted). Health beliefs, attitudes, and health-related quality of life in persons with fibromyalgia: Mediating role of treatment adherence. Psychology, Health and Medicine. doi:10.1080/13548506.2019.1576913
4. Sirois, F. M., Toussaint, L. L., Hirsch, J. K., Kohls, N., Weber, A., & Offenbächer, M. (2019). Trying to be perfect in an imperfect world: A person-centered test of perfectionism and health in fibromyalgia patients versus healthy controls. Personality and Individual Differences, 137, 27-32. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2018.08.005
5. Hirsch, J.K., Sirois, F.M., Visser, P.L., Brooks, B.D., Kohls, N., Offenbacher, M., & Toussaint, L. (2017).  Perceived stigma and health-related quality of life in the working uninsured: Does thwarted belongingness play a role?  Stigma and Health.
6. Toussaint, L., Sirois, F., Hirsch, J., Weber, A., Vajda, C., Schelling, J., Kohls, N., & Offenbacher, M. (2017). Gratitude Mediates Quality of Life Differences Between Fibromyalgia Patients and Healthy Controls. Quality of Life Research, 26(9), 2449–2457. doi: 10.1007/s11136-017-1604-7
7. Offenbächer, M., Dezutter, J., Kohls, N., Sigl, C., Vallejo, M., Rivera, J., Bauerdorf, F., Schelling, J., Vincent, A., Hirsch, J., Sirois, F., Webb, J., Toussaint, L. (2016). Struggling with Adversities of Life: The Role of Forgiveness in Patients Suffering from Fibromyalgia. Clinical Journal of Pain. doi: 10.1097/AJP.0000000000000432

Published Abstracts

1. Offenbächer, M., Kohls, N., Hanshans, C., Vallejo, M., Rivera, J., Sirois, F., Hirsch, J., Untner, J., Hölz, B., Gaisberger, M., & Toussaint, L. (2019). Self-reported sleeping problems and fatigue in large cohort of patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and fibromyalgia (FM). Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, 78(Suppl 2), 1046. doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2019-eular.4912
2. Toussaint, L., Kohls, N., Hanshans, C., Vallejo, M., Rivera, J., Sirois, F., Hirsch, J., Untner, J., Hölz, B., Gaisberger, M., & Offenbächer, M. (2019). Resilience traits in a large cohort of patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and fibromyalgia (FM). Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, 78(Suppl 2), 1046. doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2019-eular.5361
3. Offenbächer, M., Toussaint, L., Kohls, N., Hanshans, C., Vallejo, M., Rivera, J., Sirois, F., Hirsch, J., Untner, J., Hölz, B., Gaisberger, M., & Ndosi, M. (2019). Educational needs of a large cohort of patients with different rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases attending a health facility in Austria. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, 78(Suppl 2), 1442. doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2019-eular.5416
4. Offenbächer,M., Toussaint, L., Kohls, N., Hanshans, C., Vallejo, M., Rivera, J., Sirois, F., Hirsch, J., Untner, H., Hölzl, B., Gaisberger, M., & Ndosi, M. (accepted). Educational needs in a large German speaking cohort suffering from different diseases including ankylosing spondylitis, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, psoriatic arthritis, and osteoarthritis. Facts in Rheumatology.
5. Toussaint LL, Sirois FM, Hirsch JK, Kohls N, Weber A, Schelling J, Vajda C, Offenbaecher M. (2017). Stuck in the past with angry memories has detrimental health effects in patients suffering from fibromyalgia. Schmerz (Pain), 31(Suppl 2):S59.
6. Offenbaecher M, Sirois FM, Toussaint LL, Hirsch JK, Weber A, Kohls N, Schelling J, Wittmann M. (2017). An altered subjective time perspective is associated with symptoms and quality of life in patients suffering from fibromyalgia. Schmerz (Pain), 31(Suppl 2):S59.
7. Toussaint LL, Sirois FM, Hirsch JK, Weber A, Vajda C, Schelling J, Kohls N, Offenbaecher M. (2017). Gratitude mediates quality of life differences between fibromyalgia patients and healthy controls. Schmerz (Pain), 31(Suppl 2):S60.

Conference Presentations

Overview

With generous funding from the Associated Colleges of the Midwest and Mellon Foundation, a joint project initiated at Grinnell and Luther Colleges called the Grinnell-Luther College Collaborative (GLCC) continues to promote the inter-campus collaboration of student-faculty research teams focused on the study of forgiveness and health. This inter-campus collaboration has been successful and continues to thrive. Several indexes of student growth attest to the positive impact of the project. A snapshot of learning gains can be found in the images on this page, and several scholarly products of this collaboration are listed here.

SURE survey results

ROLE survey results

Student-Faculty Scholarship

1. Hoffman, S., Gates, L., Miller, M., & Khou, C. (in preparation). The effects of writing about forgiveness on mental health.
2. Hoffman, S., Gates, L., Carroll, S., Frehner, S., Dillard, A., Marschall, J. Seawell, A., & Toussaint, L. (2012, April). You Don’t Need to Be a Lifelong Guru: Brief Loving-Kindness Meditation Promotes Forgiveness and Offers Health Benefits. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, New Orleans, LA.
3. Stuart, K., Khou, C., Gates, L. M., Seawell, A., & Toussaint, L. (2011, May). Content of expressive forgiveness writing and links to forgiveness. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.
4. Khou, C., Stuart, K., Grabow, P., Hoffman, S., Seawell, A., & Toussaint, L. (2011, May). The effects of writing about forgiveness on health. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.

Faculty Scholarship

1. Seawell, A. H. & Toussaint, L. (2011, April). Associations between unforgiveness and the prevalence of arthritis among a nationally representative sample.  Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, Washington, D.C.
2. Seawell, A. H. & Toussaint, L. (2011, November). Training undergraduates for research: Collaborative scholarship models for faculty. Roundtable presentation made at the annual meeting of the Caribbean Regional Conference of Psychology, Nassau, Bahamas.
3. Seawell, A., Toussaint, L., & Cheadle, A. (under review) Unforgiveness and physical health in older adults: Results from a national prospective study Toussaint, L. (2012, February).

Members of the Rovira i Virgili University and Luther College Collaborative

The Rovira i Virgili University and Luther College Collaborative is a joint venture to develop an international Laboratory for the Investigation of Mind, Body, and Spirit that seeks to understand the psychological, social, and spiritual antecedents, correlates, and outcomes of health. The laboratory is co-hosted at both institutions with collaborations between undergraduate and graduate students and faculty from nursing, psychology, and other social and medical sciences. Faculty-led and student-centered projects, presentations, and papers are the focal point of collaboration, and international faculty-student collaborations take place at all stages of the research process (inception, design, analyses, etc.).

Scholarly Collaborations

Journal Publication

1.     Bica, T, Castelló, R, Toussaint, L. L, Montesó-Curto P. (2017). Depression as a risk factor of organic diseases: An international integrative review. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 49(4), 389-399. doi: 10.1111/jnu.12303.

Ongoing Papers, Projects, and Work

2.     Montesó-Curto, P., Toussaint, L., Kueny, A. M., Lunn, S., Roselló Aubach, L., Campoy Guerrero, C., Aguilar Martín, C., Queiroga Gonçalves, A., & Ruschak, I. 2018 MECENES. Collective financing or crowdfunding. Fibromyalgia in men, the great unknown.

3.     Llàdser Navarro, A., Montesó-Curto, P., Rosselló Aubach, L., López Pablo, C., Toussaint, L. & Casadó-Marín, L. Multidisciplinary treatments for patients with fibromyalgia: A systematic review.

4.     Llàdser Navarro, A., Montesó-Curto, P., Rosselló Aubach, L., López Pablo, C., Toussaint, L., & Casadó-Marin, L. A systematic, international review of recent research on multidisciplinary treatments for patients with fibromyalgia: Policy-based research outcomes.

5.     Cuesta, I., Metzler Sawin, E., Toussaint, L. Seabra, P., Miniassi de Oliveria, S., & Monteso-Curto, P. Factors associated with teen suicide related to bullying: A literature review.

6.     Montesó-Curto, P., Mateu-Gil, M. L., Toussaint, L., Ferré-Grau, C., Cubí-Guillen, M. T., Núria Llàdser Navarro, A., & Panisello-Chavarria, M. L. Family perceptions and experiences of living with patients with fibromyalgia syndrome.

^7.       Montesó-Curto, P., Aguilar, C., Lejeune, M., Moreno-Poyato, A. R., Seabra, P. Philpott, L., Puig Llobet, M., Toussaint, L. Perceived lack of family support and depression, anxiety and stress: A community study.

8.     Montesó-Curto, P., García-Martínez, M., Panisello-Chavarría, M., Mateu Gil, M. L., Sarrió-Colás, L., Cubí Guillén, M. T., Romaguera Genís, S., Gómez Martínez, M. C., Almo, S. F., Sánchez Herrero, A. M., Aguilar Martín, C., Queiroga, A., Salvadó Icart, M. T., Toussaint, L. Sleep disturbance in patients with fibromialgia.

***PATHWAYS TO SCIENCE*** — A good general search engine for finding opportunities

Learn Psychology Internship Listings

American Public Health Association

APA Undergraduate Research Opportunities & Internships

Care Center

Carter Center

Catholic Healthcare West

Center for Disease Control—Student Internships

Center for Disease Control—Public Health Associate Program

Center for Urban Initiatives and Research

Deep Democracy Institute

Gallup Organization

Global Engagement Summit

IEARN

Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR)

Initiatives of Change International

Iowa Department of Public Health

Iowa Public Health Association

Lemonaid Fund

Marshfield Clinic

Mayo Clinic

Meaningful World

Medical College of Wisconsin

Melrose Institute

NORC Summer Internship Program

One World Youth Project

Open Society Institute

Public Health Employment Connection

Thomson Reuters

TKF

W.K. Kellogg Foundation-Food and Fitness