The healing power of emotional support

Emotional support is a great relief when we feel alone or overwhelmed by emotions. This bra can provide us with comfort, security and peace of mind. What aspects must we take into account if we want to give this emotional support to other people? What if we want to receive the support of a friendly shoulder?
To support other people we will need practice listening and empathy towards others. On the other hand, to receive emotional support, we are going to have to accept that we are not always able to manage everything that happens to us alone. Therefore, sometimes we will need help from other people.

The importance of active listening

The ability to listen actively is the basis for generating a space for understanding. Listening is not the same as hearing, When listening, one perceives with the whole body, with the ears, eyes, gestures, etc. The whole body is involved in listening so that the person speaking can feel that we are truly understanding them.

A good way to demonstrate active listening is to summarize and paraphrase what the person is saying. as he progresses in his speech. This way we make sure that we are listening with full awareness and attention and do not fall into distractions. It is very easy for us, without realizing it, to speak ahead of time or give our opinion without having all the information… or what is worse, we take our phone out of our pocket.

Feeling that we are connected to others can also provide us with that emotional support That we do so well when our emotions overwhelm us. We need “our people”, to feel that we have someone interested in knowing our sorrows and joys because they matter to them, someone who understands that we are complex beings and assumes the cost, not always grateful, of trying to understand us.

Empathy is a quality to learn

Empathy is the ability we have to put ourselves in the shoes of others. and understand their feelings from their circumstances. In this way, we are able to understand what happens to them, how they feel, what they think and why people behave in a certain way.

Empathy It’s a skill we can hone. if we make an effort to hold others’ hands and make an effort to follow them through narrow doors and dark corners, which often cause boredom or fear.

Let’s imagine that a friend explains to us that he has just broken up with his partner and that he is affected by it. One of the keys for the other to notice our support has to do with validating their feelings., with acknowledging that we understand that in your situation you feel this way. In this way we position ourselves to value their emotions.

You don’t have to say many words to provide support. In fact, many times they are not even necessary: ​​a hug, a look or a gesture can be enough for the person to feel accompanied.

Act as if nothing were happening, that is, minimizing pain or suffering does not usually help the other person. On the contrary, the caricature of their suffering is the opposite of valuing it. Perhaps we would not have reacted that way, but that does not make their suffering any less sincere and deep.

Receiving emotional support relieves suffering

Receiving the help and support we need to get through difficult times can provide us with great relief and peace of mind. It is important that we recognize that we do not have to be able to do everything.Since we can go through moments of vulnerability. In these cases, we may need support from someone we trust and a good vent from time to time.

Sharing our emotions with other people can help us strengthen our immune system, in addition to putting ourselves in a position to understand that we are not the only ones who have problems.

The simple act of telling our problems has a great therapeutic effect. On the one hand, we have the psychological and emotional relief that it produces. Also it helps us to listen to our own speech. On many occasions, when we tell a friend about a problem, when they listen to us, we realize that perhaps we have made a mountain out of a molehill. Finally, The support of another person can provide us with a point of view that we had not contemplated. This way, we can see the problem from another angle and it stops being so painful.

What’s better than a little company

We all go through difficult times throughout different periods of our lives. Therefore, It is better to feel accompanied than to have to spend these moments alone. Think that suffering already inspires introspection, to accompany it with a feeling of total abandonment. In this way, by feeling accompanied, we can enjoy emotional support that can comfort us, raise our spirits and even make us forget our problems for a while.

To provide emotional support we will need active listening, maintaining silence and practicing empathy so that others perceive that support. Instead, To receive emotional support, a dose of humility will be necessary, recognize that we are not capable of managing everything that happens to us and begin to practice the ability to ask for help when we need it.

An important point is knowing how to ask for help. Many people believe that others should know when we are bad.l. However, this idea, rather than helping us, can end up harming us. Others may know us to a greater or lesser extent, but they will not always be able to know when something happens to us. This is why it is so important to learn to ask for help. Just because a friend doesn’t realize that we need help doesn’t make them a worse friend. Sometimes, we are masters of dissimulation and we pretend that everything is going very well, and yet we want to be asked. So that, The simplest and healthiest thing is to ask for help when we need it..

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