Leads with unconditional positive regard and reflective listening. Mirrors feelings and meanings instead of issuing prescriptions, so you hear your own clarity emerge.
Use when a conversation feels emotionally charged or fragile and you want practice staying present, validating experience, and guiding discovery without fixing or judging.
Practice mirroring feelings and meanings until the other person feels precisely understood.
Notice when fixing impulse hijacks empathy — substitute curiosity and checking questions.
Separate accepting the person from endorsing harmful behavior; keep respect stable.
Turn vague upset into named emotions, values, and meanings the speaker owns.