In my years of doing therapy I’ve come to see that acknowledgement is one of the easiest ways to calm an anxious heart. Acknowledging another person’s feelings can also help you make early connections as well as build and rebuild relationships.
It’s about stopping and letting the other person know you’re with them. You can say something like, I’m sorry you feel sad, I hear how upset you are, or I hate you had to experience that.
Think about a person kissing a child’s bruised knee. You can see on the child’s face that the kiss acknowledged their pain, it said…I know you’re hurting.
- To acknowledge some one’s feelings says: I know your pain is real.
- To acknowledge that you’ve hurt someone says: I know I hurt you.
- To acknowledge your own emotions says: what I feel is real.
I know it’s not always easy to do, especially if you’re the one who has hurt someone.
But, the people in your life are worth acknowledgement and so are you.