What is Validating?
You offer words and gestures that confirm the other person's value and worth. Affirmation is not flattery — it is honest recognition of what is genuinely good in someone. It helps people feel less alone in their effort and more willing to keep going.
When you might feel validating
Validating is a specific form of encouraging, which itself is a type of supportive. You might experience this feeling in situations where supportive is present, particularly when the circumstances align with the nuances that define validating.