An acknowledgment is simply this: any indication that you are struggling to understand the emotional content of what the other person is saying. If the other person says to you, “I’m confused by the fact that you lied to me,” you might say any of the following: Well, it won’t happen again. I should explain that I did not lie. It sounds like you’re overreacting a bit here. Each of these is an understandable response. The first two respond to the substance of what is being said; the third judges the feeling. But none simply acknowledges the feeling, or responds to the invisible questions.
