Interpersonal Effectiveness Skills - VIDEO 9 - QUIZ

Practical Ways to Understand Validation and Invalidating Responses in Families

• Validation and invalidating responses are terms often used in a confusing way but can be useful in understanding how one person's experience is perceived and responded to by another person.

• Invalidating responses are not necessarily mean or abusive, but they miss, misunderstand, or minimize someone's experience, feeling, thought, or desire.

• Invalidating behaviors can also legitimize an invalid behavior, which invalidates someone's capability and potential for growth.

• Invalidating responses are often subtle, especially around emotional experiences and desires, and can be confusing even if they are well-intended.

• Validating responses can be achieved in several ways, such as listening and paying attention, acknowledging the other person's point of view, asking questions to understand, treating people as competent and equal, and matching the other person's vulnerability with your own.

• Validating responses can make a difference in family functioning and individual well-being, as it opens the door to communication, repair, and growth.

• The concept of validation is related to borderline personality disorder, as invalidating experiences in childhood can contribute to the development of the disorder, but validation can also help in the treatment and recovery process.

• The speaker runs a dialectical behavior therapy program for adolescents and adults with borderline personality disorder and co-occurring problems, as well as a DBT program for family members, parents, couples, and other family constellations.

• The DBT program for family members is rare but useful, as it provides a space to understand and practice validating responses, which can improve family relationships and communication.

• Invalidating responses can also happen in conflicts, and validating responses can help to de-escalate conflicts and repair relationships.

• Validating responses require empathy, curiosity, openness, and willingness to understand and respect the other person's experience, even if it is different from yours.

• Validating responses can be challenging, especially if they require you to let go of your attack mode or to match the other person's vulnerability, but they can also be rewarding, as they create a safe and supportive environment for growth and healing.The Importance of Validating Emotions and the Connection to Borderline Personality Disorder

• Validating a person's experience is important, even if it may be based on faulty logic or a misunderstanding.

• It is important to validate the valid and invalidate invalid things.

• When under high emotional arousal, our ability to accurately describe our experience goes down.

• Increased impulsivity and interpersonal reactivity are associated with emotional disregulation.

• A study showed that validating someone's experience during high emotional arousal led to decreased arousal levels, while invalidating had no effect.

• In situations where a person's experience is not accurately expressed, it is easy to invalidate their experience, which can lead to the development of borderline personality disorder.

• The green box in the big model represents events, which could be big or small.

• Disappointment is a common emotional reaction to events that do not meet our expectations.

• Self-validation is a healthy psychological response to disappointment.

• Individuals with a vulnerability to emotional arousal that is quick and difficult to calm down may be at risk for developing borderline personality disorder.

• Invalidating experiences during high emotional arousal can lead to the development of borderline personality disorder.

• It is important to validate emotions during high emotional arousal to prevent the development of borderline personality disorder.Emotion Regulation and the Importance of Validating Responses

• Individuals have different levels of emotional vulnerability and arousal, which can be influenced by temperament, sleep, diet, and other factors.

• Judgments about oneself or others can increase arousal levels and lead to inaccurate expressions, which can be invalidating and negatively impact relationships.

• Invalidating responses can trigger strong negative emotional reactions, especially in individuals with higher emotional sensitivity or reactivity.

• Specific histories with individuals can also make one more vulnerable to certain situations or people, leading to puzzling reactions.

• Decreasing invalidating responses and increasing validating ones can make a significant difference in relationships.

• Brief interventions focused on managing emotions, expressing accurately, and validating responses can lead to significant reductions in distress and improvements in relationship satisfaction.

• Videotaped analysis of couples and parents and their adolescent children showed significant reductions in invalidation and improvements in validating responses, leading to reduced distress and improved self-esteem and depression.

• Parents can learn to respond to their child's behavior differently, which can lead to reduced distress and burden for both the parent and child.

• Emotion dysregulation and self-harm can be challenging issues in relationships, but responding with validating responses can make a difference.

• When faced with an emotionally vulnerable individual, it is important to balance the desire for order with the need for validation and support.

• Validating responses can help individuals feel heard and understood, leading to improved relationships and emotional regulation.

• Overall, the importance of validating responses cannot be overstated, as they can make a significant difference in emotional regulation and relationship satisfaction.The Role of Families in BPD and the Importance of Inclusion in Treatment

• Families can play a key role in the development and course of BPD.

• Even with good intentions, family members can unknowingly make things worse for their loved ones with BPD.

• Validating responses are important in the process of emotion dysregulation and interpersonal chaos.

• Family members suffer greatly and should not be blamed, but are relevant to treatment and relapse prevention.

• Families should be included in treatment for themselves to receive support and learn how to best help their loved one.

• Having a family member in treatment has positive effects on the patient and their relatives.

• Longitudinal controlled research is needed in the field of BPD research.

• BPD research is currently underfunded.

• The story of a father and daughter's interaction highlights the importance of validating responses.

• The daughter's friends treating her like a pariah contributed to her emotional distress.

• The daughter's intention to calm herself down was interrupted by her father's demands.

• The father's well-meaning actions made his daughter feel worse.