Being able to validate one’s emotions is a key aspect of emotional maturity. Validating emotion is, as described by DC VA counseling and psychotherapy, “the process of learning about, understanding, and expressing acceptance of another person’s emotional experience… Emotional validation is distinguished from emotional invalidation, in which another person’s emotional experiences are rejected, ignored, or judged.”
As you can see emotional validation is all about understanding yours, or someone else’s, emotion and accepting the fact that they have every right to feel this way. Lack of emotional validation is commonly seen in parent/ guardian and child relationships, couples, and in many others. However, learning how to properly validate someone’s emotions is a stepping stone to building a better relationship!
In this specific part of the series of Emotional Maturity, we will focus on Emotion Validation: what it looks like, How to ask for it, and even highlight some negative and positive effects of emotional validation!