Validation Isn't the Problem. You Are.
Validation and agreement are not the same thing.
Somewhere along the way, many of us learned that if we acknowledge another person's experience, we're saying they're right. But what if validation simply means making room for their reality without abandoning your own?
In this episode, we explore:
- Why validation and agreement are not the same thing.
- Why validation is often the first step toward repair.
- What gets in the way of validating another person's experience.
- Why conflict continues when both people are only fighting to be understood.
- How making room for another person's reality doesn't require abandoning your own.
- Why repair requires both people to feel heard and received.
- The role validation plays both inside and outside of conflict.
- Why some people seem to experience validation as something threatening.
- The questions to ask yourself when validation feels difficult.
- How slowing down creates space for different responses in moments of conflict.
Episode Thoughts to Sit With
"Validation absolutely does not mean I agree with what you're saying. But it does mean I hear you. I get that's where you are."
"I do think people are protecting something...and it's getting in the way of mutual relationship and being able to repair and move forward."
"The way forward is through repair."
"Challenge yourself to see the situation from the other person's experience, not through your lens, because those are not the same things."
