You are describing pity. Pity is not emotional validation because it isn't driven by empathy. It's a "near enemy" of empathy, meaning it looks like empathy but it in fact undermines empathy. Pity sets up a hierarchical dynamic where someone is looking down at you under the guise of "feeling bad for you". It sets up a feeling of separaten…
You are describing pity. Pity is not emotional validation because it isn't driven by empathy. It's a "near enemy" of empathy, meaning it looks like empathy but it in fact undermines empathy. Pity sets up a hierarchical dynamic where someone is looking down at you under the guise of "feeling bad for you". It sets up a feeling of separateness and distance from the person suffering. True emotional validation is driven by empathy, which has the quality of taking in and listening to someone's experience non-judgmentally, as an equal.
You are describing pity. Pity is not emotional validation because it isn't driven by empathy. It's a "near enemy" of empathy, meaning it looks like empathy but it in fact undermines empathy. Pity sets up a hierarchical dynamic where someone is looking down at you under the guise of "feeling bad for you". It sets up a feeling of separateness and distance from the person suffering. True emotional validation is driven by empathy, which has the quality of taking in and listening to someone's experience non-judgmentally, as an equal.