When Validation’s More Important Than Cheering Someone Up

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ndition as though it doesn’t exist. You want to help your friend if they go through a break-up or suffer from depression, but cheering them up won’t do any good. Sometimes, they need acceptance and support.</p><h1 id="1bd2">How to offer validation</h1><p id="3133">When you validate someone’s emotional state, you show you respect them and don’t need them to change. But often, people don’t realize how to cope around unhappy individuals. They pretend all is well and deny the painful feelings they witness.</p><p id="080a" type="7">To give validation, and so not alienate or sadden an unhappy pal, be a terrific listener. Let them to talk without interrupting them and resist the urge to cheer them up. Avoid phrases like “when one door closes, another opens” and “you’ll feel better before you know it.” Perhaps they’re true, but saying them is patronizing, even though you mean well.</p><p id="4674">Give your friend time to grieve or get mad and heal in their own time without hurrying things along. People sometimes need to stick with an uncomfortable emotion and experience it to the fullest degree bef

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ore they let it go. Watching from the side-lines is tough because you want your friend’s pain to stop. However, it’s not your job to decide how long their journey takes.</p><p id="6c0e">Sometimes, friends must go through painful experiences at a slow pace. You might find their progress uncomfortable. However, it’s what they need for personal growth, so it won’t help to hurry the process. Be their island of stability instead of the cavalry, and they will appreciate your loving presence.</p><div id="12db" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/the-power-of-two-7e357564b39"> <div> <div> <h2>The Power of Two</h2> <div><h3>Poetry</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*3KK8ltqScOxM4b_aM_ahTg.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="ddde"><i>Copyright © 2019 Bridget Webber. All rights reserved</i></p></article></body>

When Validation’s More Important Than Cheering Someone Up

Sometimes, they need acceptance and support

Unhappy friends could look like prime candidates for an overhaul by the happy brigade. Yet, acting upbeat and attempting to lighten the mood will deepen their distress. Validation and stability, at such a time, trump wisecracks and calls to put on a cheerful face.

You don’t want your emotions invalidated when you’re miserable. You would like to change your state of mind, but if someone says “smile, it may never happen,” you don’t jump for joy. Far from help to shift your negative mood, the statement makes you worse because it suggests you shouldn’t experience what you feel.

When people are blue, they don’t want anyone to skim over their mental condition as though it doesn’t exist. You want to help your friend if they go through a break-up or suffer from depression, but cheering them up won’t do any good. Sometimes, they need acceptance and support.

How to offer validation

When you validate someone’s emotional state, you show you respect them and don’t need them to change. But often, people don’t realize how to cope around unhappy individuals. They pretend all is well and deny the painful feelings they witness.

To give validation, and so not alienate or sadden an unhappy pal, be a terrific listener. Let them to talk without interrupting them and resist the urge to cheer them up. Avoid phrases like “when one door closes, another opens” and “you’ll feel better before you know it.” Perhaps they’re true, but saying them is patronizing, even though you mean well.

Give your friend time to grieve or get mad and heal in their own time without hurrying things along. People sometimes need to stick with an uncomfortable emotion and experience it to the fullest degree before they let it go. Watching from the side-lines is tough because you want your friend’s pain to stop. However, it’s not your job to decide how long their journey takes.

Sometimes, friends must go through painful experiences at a slow pace. You might find their progress uncomfortable. However, it’s what they need for personal growth, so it won’t help to hurry the process. Be their island of stability instead of the cavalry, and they will appreciate your loving presence.