As he approached his dad at the sideline, he looked at the ground and shook his head. “I just lost the freakin’ championship for my team.” How would you respond? If you’re like most people, you’d immediately fire back with a compassionate, “No you didn’t! You did a great job!” There are two problems here, though. First, this is an invalidating statement. Did you catch it? Immediately responding with “no you didn’t” discounts the feelings Trent just expressed rather than allowing him space to feel them.
