You Can Empathize Instead of Shut a Loved One Down

Key points

Emotional intelligence is imperative when responding to loved ones.

Empathize with your loved ones feelings instead of dismissing or rejecting them.

Empathic statements help your loved one feel less alone, connected to you, and comforted.

We all want to be emotionally safe, especially at home with the people that we love. Instead of lecturing or fixing, we can listen and understand. Providing advice to someone upset doesn’t usually help them, and rushing to fix someone’s problem leaves them alone with uncomfortable emotions. It also strips them of their self-efficacy , while making it about you because you are the “hero.”

When you actively listen to a loved one, you may see what they are feeling. Everyone has experienced anger , sadness, grief , frustration, disappoin