This is part of my series on Mental Models to Understand Yourself

Just like children, emotions heal when they are heard and validated.
— Jill Bolte Taylor, My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey

You need emotional validation.

You need someone to listen without interrupting. Someone who does not discount or diminish what you’re feeling. Someone who doesn’t tell you that you should feel something different. Someone who doesn’t make it about themselves.

You need somebody who will sit and listen to what’s inside of you. They don’t have to agree with you. Their job is to hear and acknowledge that your feelings are real. Because you are real. Laurie Buchanan said, “When we listen, we hear someone into existence.”