Emotional Validation : Definition and Importance

Emotional Validation is the process of learning about, understanding and showing acceptance of another person’s emotional experience. It allows a person to feel as if you’re making an effort to recognize. 

Validation can come from other persons but it can also come from the individual themselves. Self-validation is about recognizing and accepting your own thoughts, feelings and emotions. 

Why is Emotional Validation Important?

Emotional validation plays a huge role for mental health. 

Here I have mentioned some benefits of validation :

Communicating 

Validation helps to communicate with another person and their feelings.

Boosting trust

People who accept other’s emotions are able to boost trust and build stronger relationships with them.

Good emotion regulation 

When you validate someone’s emotions, you are showing them that they are important to you.When people feel that others understand them, It helps to develop emotion regulation.

Better relationship 

When you validate someone’s emotions, you are showing that you care about and accept them for who they are. That’s how it helps to make better relationships.

How do you validate someone’s emotions?

To be emotionally validating, you don’t need to agree with other’s feelings. You only need to recognize that other people are feeling in a certain way.

There are some tips to validate the emotions of others effectively. It can also help you to validate your own thoughts and feelings.

Be present

When others share their feelings try to pay attention. Being present and actively listening to someone assists you to realize that their feelings and experiences are important for you.

Acknowledge and accept 

Acknowledge their personal experiences and accept what they feel or how they react.

Use statements such as

• “I can understand why you feel.”
• “No wonder you felt that way.”
• “I know this feeling is totally normal.”

Reflect and summerize

Reflecting and summarizing what the person has expressed or asking questions in a thoughtful way shows someone that you understand their condition.

Use questions such as

“What do you need right now?”

“How can I support you in this situation?”

Try not to fix

Sometimes people try to make their loved ones stop hurting simply because they don’t want them to be upset. We can’t fix unpleasant feelings. Fixing means cleaning up any negative feelings. Pretending that everything is okay, It creates toxic positivity. 

17 Ways to Validate Yourself

1. My feelings are valid.
2. I’m proud of myself.
3. This is hard. What do I need to cope or feel better?
4. It’s normal to feel this way.
5. It’s okay to cry.
6. I’m making progress.
7. I gave it my best effort.
8. I am worthy.
9. Good job!
10. I’m more than my accomplishments or failures.
11. My self-worth isn’t based on other people’s opinions.
12. Everyone makes mistakes.
13. My feelings matter and I will listen to what they’re telling me.
14. I trust my instincts.
15. Not everyone likes me and that’s okay.
16. I like myself.
17. I like ———– about myself.