How to Listen, Hear, and Validate

All human beings want to feel that they are, at their core, acceptable, even lovable

When we invalidate someone, what we might be responding to is their emotional reality, their thoughts, speech, behavior, beliefs, perspectives or ideas—but in the process we may more or less invalidate them as individuals

Remember, when we provide validation, we are communicating that someone’s experience, and they themselves, are inherently valid. So, we can use phrases like:

“It’s understandable you’d feel that way.”
“Yes, that makes sense. I can see why you say that.”
“It’s perfectly normal that you think that.”
“I’m sorry that you’re having a hard time with this.”
“Can you tell me more about how you’re feeling?”