The Best Way To Diffuse A Heated Argument

It’s one of the hardest things to do.

Photo by Julia Larson from Pexels

Have you ever gotten so upset with someone and felt like they just weren’t getting it? Like they could not understand what you were trying to say no matter how many times you tried to explain it to them?

This sentiment of not being heard is usually the reason why an initially harmless disagreement may turn extremely frustrating.

There is one mistake that people make while arguing that tends to cause more animosity — we get defensive.

We say something that hurts another person’s feelings, and rather than apologizing, we double-down in trying to explain why they shouldn’t feel hurt.

We don’t stop to acknowledge why their feelings are present. We just try to convince them that their feelings aren’t justified.

Have you ever done this while in an argument with someone?

I know I’m guilty.

But upon reflecting, I’ve realized something important that I should have done instead: validate the other person’s feelings.

Validation is the act of acknowledging that another person’s opinions or feelings are…