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Ideas for Impact

How to Respond to Others’ Emotional Situations

October 25, 2017 By Nagesh Belludi 3 Comments

People Tap Into Their Support Systems to Gain Perspective on a Challenging Situation

When people get unhappy, they need a shoulder.

When they get vulnerable, they need a hand.

When they get upset, they need an ear.

People approach their loved ones when they get emotional and want to convey the pain they feel.

Above all, under the direct influence of their anguishes, people like to rant and rave. Once they come to terms with whatever caused their aggravations, they’re ready move on.

Contrary to normal assumption, human nature is such that people are not always looking for others’ advice. Even when patients go to a shrink, they tend to already know the answer to the question they are posing. They just want their shrink (or any interlocutor) to agree with their decision and support them whether the shrink shares their judgments or not.

How to Respond to Others' Emotional Situations

To Respond to Emotions, Stop Trying to Fix Problems and Just Listen

When a friend, coworker, or employee approaches you when he is upset, use empathic listening to understand his emotions.

The University of Florida’s Dr. Richard Rathe recommends a technique he calls BATHE (Background-Affects-Troubles-Handling-Empathy) that he says has been effective in handling conflicts with staff, family, and friends:

  • Background: Ask questions about the situation. Don’t ask for details at this time. Try to understand the different expectations and feelings at play. Steer clear of trivializing the situation.
  • Affects: Ask about how the situation affects your friend and how it makes him feel. Remember that people are often not entirely aware of their own emotions. Strong emotions often set off knee-jerk reactions that people come to regret later.
  • Troubles: Ask what agitates your friend most about the present situation. Try to explore the symptoms and causes of those emotions even as you withhold your judgment. Suppress your instinctive emotional reaction, stay open-minded and sensitive, and hear out the full message before you respond. Bear your friend’s foibles by reminding yourself that perhaps he has entirely valid reasons for feeling, acting, and speaking as he does.
  • Handling: Ask how your friend is handling the conflict or the crisis. Broach similar circumstances in the past. Skillfully ask questions that encourage him to focus on actions. Mention options he may have not yet considered. Even baby steps can strengthen your friend’s sense of self-worth and turn out positive emotions.
  • Empathy: Express sympathy, understanding, and support for your friend’s position and sentiments. Tell him you understand what happened to him from his perspective, even if you differ with his response. Identify specific sentiments (e.g. anger, embarrassment, or regret) to communicate to him that you understand how he feels. Tell him that his feelings are completely reasonable—which they are, given his point of view. Reinforce your friend’s plan to deal with the problem.

Idea for Impact: Empathy makes you easy to confide in. The feeling of being listened to without judgment compels your friend to respond with patience. Only then can he open up his mind to being influenced by you.

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Filed Under: Effective Communication Tagged With: Anger, Emotions, Getting Along, Listening, Mentoring, Networking, Social Life

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Shekhar Pandey says

    August 24, 2020 at 3:36 AM

    Did you know that humans experience nearly 34,000 emotions? Yeah. Unbelievable, right? Therefore, it is not surprising that most of us cannot even name more than 10 – let alone deal with them. And with so many emotions buzzing inside our brains and hearts – is it truly possible to navigate our feelings without getting so lost? Is it possible for us to voyage through the dangerous sea waters and come out triumphant on the other side? And most importantly – can we ever master these messy, gut-wrenching, worrisome emotions? The answer is yes. Read on to find out how Wheel of Emotions works and how to use it.

    For more such information you can have a look at our websites https://themindfool.com/

  2. Avamaldita says

    September 30, 2020 at 9:06 PM

    How do you feel after response to your feeling?

  3. Ben says

    February 11, 2021 at 3:09 PM

    How does one practice this process? I am not very good at this as I always try to “fix” the problem rather than just listen. This is a problem for me. I am also having a hard time with the very first sentence “ask question but not details.” What question would I ask that doesn’t involve detail? How do I gather background without including detail?
    Oh yeah, and I tend to overthink things….
    This is where I need help, exactly. Suggestions?

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About: Nagesh Belludi [hire] is a St. Petersburg, Florida-based freethinker, investor, and leadership coach. He specializes in helping executives and companies ensure that the overall quality of their decision-making benefits isn’t compromised by a lack of a big-picture understanding.

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