Four Thursday mornings in May 2026 via Zoom
FOUR EXPLORATION & DISCUSSION SESSIONS
WITH THE AUTHOR
A personal message from Dr. Richo:
The will to retaliate is in all of us. Spiritual teachers have offered an alternative: “Love your enemies.” This is a challenging practice indeed. It will take effort and an openness to grace if we are ever to fulfill it, or even believe it has value.
When we notice that we retaliate even against those we love, within a family or in an intimate relationship, we come face to face with a big challenge: we wonder whether love has truly taken hold in us.
This workshop is an invitation to explore the role of revenge in ourselves and in the world around us. We can look for ways to choose reconciliation over retribution, forgiveness over payback, love over division. We can find spiritually skillful ways to respond when others retaliate against us.
Come join us as we visit together the possibility of full commitment to caring and compassion.
The book for this class, Sweeter than Revenge: Overcoming Your Payback Mind, is available on Amazon and at Chaucer’s Books in Santa Barbara.
Introducing the reading for our Spring Series
(Publisher’s Summary) When you feel you have been wronged, the urge to retaliate can feel overwhelming and justified. In this groundbreaking work, acclaimed author and psychotherapist David Richo explores the complex dynamics of retaliation, offering profound insights into why we seek revenge and practices to help us break free from this destructive cycle.
Sweeter than Revenge explores one of humanity’s most instinctive yet destructive impulses: the urge to strike back when we feel wronged. Drawing from psychology, principles of emotional intelligence, Christian and Buddhist teachings, and years of therapeutic expertise, Richo illuminates the web of emotions and triggers that drive retaliatory behavior. He challenges readers to examine their own patterns of retaliation and provides practical tools for responding to conflict with wisdom rather than reactivity.
Revenge happens in any human relationship, even intimate ones. Through compelling insights and actionable strategies, Richo guides us in understanding how to transform vengeful impulses into opportunities for growth and healing. Whether dealing with personal relationships, workplace dynamics, or internal struggles, this book offers a revolutionary framework for moving beyond the primitive urge for revenge toward more enlightened responses. We may not be able to eliminate our impulse to retaliate, but we can stop acting on it.
Readers will discover powerful techniques for managing anger, developing emotional resilience, and fostering genuine forgiveness. Through real-world examples and exercises, this book illuminates the path from reactive behavior to conscious response.
Sweeter than Revenge is an essential read for anyone seeking to be freed from destructive patterns and cultivate more constructive ways of handling life’s inevitable conflicts.
now available for viewing/listening below
| DATE | TOPIC AND CHAPTER(S) | SPEAKER |
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Session 1: |
First Session of the SWEETER THAN REVENGE Series |
Dave |
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Session 2: |
Second Session of the SWEETER THAN REVENGE Series |
Dave |
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Session 3: |
Third Session of the SWEETER THAN REVENGE Series |
Dave |
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Session 4: |
Fourth Session of the SWEETER THAN REVENGE Series |
Dave |
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David Richo, PhD, MFT, is a psychotherapist, theologian, teacher, workshop leader, and writer who works in Santa Barbara and San Francisco California. He combines Jungian, poetic, and mythic perspectives in his work with the intention of integrating the psychological and the spiritual. His books and workshops include attention to Buddhist and Christian spiritual practices. To explore Dave Richo’s list of books in print and his library of free spiritual encouragement resources, please visit davericho.com.