"Think back to the last time someone told you you shouldn't feel a certain way, your beliefs are wrong, or you did something bad. That's invalidation. Invalidation often triggers defensiveness, withdrawal, and self-doubt. Chronic invalidation contributes to difficulties regulating emotions, tolerating distress, and interacting effectively with others (Linehan, 1993; Krause, et al., 2003). Invalidation between ideologically polarized groups increases polarization."
"Validation is a compassionate invitation to connect across our differences. It is the act of recognizing and affirming the reality of someone's feelings, thoughts, or experience even if you don't agree with them. As world-renowned validation expert Dr. Marsha Linehan puts it, validation is "finding the kernel of truth in another person's perspective or situation" (Linehan, 1997). If you start with validation, you show you are listening and understand."
Validation recognizes and affirms the reality of another person's feelings, thoughts, or experience, seeking the kernel of truth in their perspective. Invalidation occurs when someone is told they shouldn't feel a certain way, that their beliefs are wrong, or that they did something bad. Invalidation often triggers defensiveness, withdrawal, and self-doubt. Chronic invalidation erodes self-trust, undermines emotional regulation, and increases difficulty tolerating distress. When groups invalidate opposing or dissenting views, ideological polarization intensifies and conflicts escalate. Starting with validation calms physiology, builds trust, and makes people more open to different perspectives. Recovery requires self-compassion, reflection, relational skill-building, and evidence-based validation tools.
Read at Psychology Today
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]