Reflect feelings
As we listen, we can also restate in our own words the feelings Friends are sharing with us. We use emotional terms like sad, angry, and afraid. We focus on the clear and apparent emotion. We might begin by saying,

“You seem….”
“Perhaps you feel…”
“I can sense your…”
.
As Shakespeare wrote, we--
Give sorrow words:  the grief that does not speak
Whispers the o'er-fraught heart, and bids it break.

29

Describing Feelings