Naming is identifying the “what’s really going on here”—the deeper need, the bigger behavior, the narrative of what actually happened—and recognizing its legitimacy and worthiness. Naming can be sort of small (e.g., “What is being described sounds really effing annoying”) or pretty significant (e.g., “What is being described sounds incredibly abusive”). Naming is powerful—it’s validating, and is how our experiences begin to take shape and make sense to us.
