Exercise #1: Empathic validation

Empathic validation involves conveying an understanding and recognizing the wisdom in another's response (Linehan, 1993). It can take several forms, including nonverbally showing interest in what another is expressing, reflecting what another has expressed, or highlighting what makes sense about a response. One can choose to validate what someone has said or what has been expressed nonverbally. Validation typically helps patients regulate their emotions and helps to foster feelings of liking or trust with the person who is validating them. In this way, empathic validation is one of the cornerstones of building a good therapeutic alliance and has demonstrable impacts on patient outcomes (Elliot et al., 2018; Hojat et al., 2011).