Emotional support is a great relief when we feel alone or overwhelmed by emotions, it can give us comfort, security and tranquility. What aspects should we consider if we want to provide this emotional support to other people, what if we want to receive it with a friendly shoulder?
To support others, we will need to practice listening and empathy for others, on the other hand, to receive emotional support, we will have to assume that we are not always able to handle everything that happens alone, so in some cases we will need the help of other people.
- The ability to actively listen is the basis for generating a space of understanding.
- Listening is not the same as listening; listening.
- It is perceived with the whole body.
- With ears.
- Eyes.
- Gestures.
- Etc.
- The whole body is involved in listening.
- So that the speaker can feel that they are really understood.
A good way to demonstrate active listening is to summarize and paraphrase what the person says as they progress in their discourse. This will ensure that we are listening with full conscience and attention, without falling into distractions. It is very easy that, without realizing it, we end up talking in advance, or giving an opinion without having all the information, or worse, we take the cell phone out of our pocket.
“Just by listening deeply, we alleviate pain and suffering. – Unknown author-
The feeling of being connected to others can also give us that emotional support that goes so well when we feel overwhelmed by emotions. We need “our people” to feel that we have someone who is interested in knowing our pains and joys because they care, someone who understands that we are complex beings, with complex thinking, and who assumes the cost of trying to understand us.
Empathy is our ability to put ourselves in the shoes of others and understand their feelings from their situation, so we can understand what is going on, how they feel, what they think and why people behave in a certain way. skill that we can perfect if we strive to take the hands of others and make an effort to follow them through narrow doors and dark corners, which often cause boredom or fear.
“The most important thing is that we have to understand each other. We need someone who can hear and understand us. So, do we suffer less?” -That Nhat Hanh-
Imagine a friend explaining that he has just broken up with his girlfriend and is affected by it, one of the keys for this friend to notice our support is to validate his feelings, to recognize that we understand that in your situation you feel that way. we position ourselves by courage in your emotions.
It is not necessary to say many words to provide support, in fact, many times it is not necessary to say them: a hug, a look or a gesture may be enough for the person to feel accompanied. What happened, that is, to minimize pain and suffering, does not usually help another person, on the contrary, the caricature of their suffering is the opposite of what we must do, we may not have reacted in that way, but that does not make the suffering of others less sincere and less profound.
Getting the help and support we need to overcome difficult times can bring us great relief and peace of mind, it’s important to recognize that we can’t face everything, because we can all go through moments of vulnerability, in these cases we may need the support of someone you trust and a good explosion from time to time.
Sharing our emotions with others can help us strengthen our immune system and help us understand that we are not the only ones who have problems, we all go through complicated moments at different times in our lives, so it is better to feel accompanied than to have to do so. goes through these moments alone. He thinks that suffering already inspires introspection, but it is not good to accompany him with a feeling of total abandonment.
To provide emotional support, we will need active listening, silence and empathy so that others can receive that support, on the other hand, to receive it we will have to have a good dose of humility, recognize that we are not able to face it. with everything that happens to us and we begin to practice the ability to ask for help when we need it.