"An apology benefits the person giving it as much (or often more) than the person receiving it. This thought sometimes helps people get past the difficulty of apologizing sincerely when they really believe the other party contributed in some way to the problem.

The advantage of this approach is that it allows the "apologizer" to maintain their boundary and a sense of personal power because they are in control of the decision to apologize. It is entirely up to the other person whether they will accept the apology. One can sincerely apologize and move on even if the apology is not accepted. I wanted to underscore this point"