Validating Families’ Cultures

“Sit down, lean forward, position yourself to listen,” advises Dr. Donna Zulman. We recognize that the families we work with hold most valuable information.

On Demonstrating Understanding

Let’s imagine the meetings we have with individuals and their given and chosen family members. In these meetings, we seek to understand and validate their family culture — values, traditions, experiences, thoughts, and feelings — as their culture will inform the support we offer.

Seeking to understand involves the critical skills of active listening, transparent communication, and asking for feedback. As a provider, you cannot assume your interpretations of behavioral health practices are the same as the individuals and families you support.

According to Dr. Marsha Linehan (1993, 1997), validation theorist, the core components of validating include:

1. Observing: fully attending to what the family is communicating
2. Reflecting: restating your understanding of what was communicated
3. Naming the “Unspoken”: exploring absent and/or implied thoughts and feelings
4. Acknowledging: agreeing with the person’s truth
5. Responding genuinely: communicating sincerely and respectfully

Practice Pause: Prioritizing People

Validating others’ experiences, even when we don’t understand or agree with them, is possible and necessary to foster trusting and respectful relationships. Dr. Xavier Amador (2023), clinician and founder of the Henry Amador Center on Anosognosia, suggests the evidence-based, trademarked LEAP Method as a pathway to partnership:

1. Listen: seek to understand an individual’s perspectives,
2. Empathize: share understanding of the individual’s feelings,
3. Agree: express alignment with the individual, and
4. Partner: work together in collaboration

Notice how the provider in the following video focuses on maintaining a trusting and caring partnership with an individual. Content warning: this video contains topics that may be sensitive, including medication.

This video will start at an intentionally identified time stamp.

Practice Pause: Prioritizing People in Your Practice

In the video above, we observe a behavioral health provider (Dr. Amador) communicating with an individual (Harris). Imagine now that you are the provider and when you call Harris, his father also answers the call.