1. Telling someone how they should or shouldn’t feel
When someone opens up to you about how they feel about a certain situation, don’t invalidate their emotions by telling them that they “shouldn’t” feel that way. “The fact of the matter is that they feel the way they feel whether you think they should or shouldn’t,” explains Amanda Stemen, MS, LCSW, a licensed therapist in California. Judging someone for their sentiments is going to make them feel worse, so just be a shoulder to cry on and remind yourself that nobody can control their natural emotional responses.
