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Family meetings

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Describing the other patients to your friends

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Overcoming Invalidation

Invalidation communicates that your thoughts, beliefs, values, or appearance are wrong or incorrect. When thinking of invalidation, it’s important to remember the possibility of it being dialectical: it can be both helpful and painful. 

When is invalidation helpful? 

When it corrects unfactual information and/or mistakes

When it opens your mind to other perspectives and boosts personal growth

When is it painful? 

When you’re being rejected or neglected

When something factual in your life is being denied or overlooked

When personal experience is trivialized or disregarded

When someone treats you as less than equal 

When someone repeatedly misunderstands you 

When someone misreads your intentions or misinterprets your actions

When you’re telling the truth and others don’t believe you

So, what do you do when you’re invalidated? 

Validate yourself the same way you would validate a loved one. 

Check the facts. Are your responses to the situation in line with the facts? 

Check with someone else whom you can trust to validate the valid.

If your response doesn’t fit the facts, acknowledge this. 

Also, acknowledge when your reactions make sense and are valid.

Work to change any invalid thinking patterns, actions, or statements. 

Remember that blaming a person rarely helps and try to let go of blame.

Be compassionate towards yourself. Practice self-soothing. 

Drop judgmental self-statements and practice opposite action.

Remember: all behavior is caused. Also, remember that you are doing the best that you can do at any given point in time.

Admit that it’s painful to be invalidated by others (even if it’s right).

Remember that being invalidated, while painful, is rarely a catastrophe.

Enter a supportive environment.

Grieve any traumatic invalidation and whatever harm may have resulted. 

Practice radical acceptance of those who have invalidated you. 

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Being able to catch a lapse and get back on track before it turns into a relapse

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When an extended family member asks how I’ve been

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Sitting in the waiting room

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When you're making all this progress in recovery and then...

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When my therapist asks, so“what do you want to work on today?”

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My attitude toward coping skills some days:

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After a rough therapy session

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Having a week without therapy.

At the beginning of the week

By the end

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Coming face-to-face with my issues like:

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When you admit to your "close" friends that you've relapsed and they react like:

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When I recognize a therapist trying to use a tactic that past therapists have used with me:

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When someone thinks it's okay for them to joke about your mental health because you do:

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When you catch yourself starting to cry in public

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When I’m discussing a relationship with my therapist

and she starts focusing on the other person, I’m like: