I left something out that I wanted to say. After this:
Quote:
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When she says that no one knows who she really is, an alternative would be to acknowledge, understand, and accept the underlying feelings by saying something like "It sounds like you feel alone in the world." or "It must really hurt to feel so alone in the world."
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When you say something like I suggest, you are not agreeing with her claim that nobody knows who she is. Rather, you are focusing on
her feelings instead of the (alleged) facts. Acknowledging, understanding, and accepting her feelings will help her feel less alone. And this is true of any self-critical thing that she says: acknowledging, understanding, and accepting her feelings is more important than the accuracy of the specific claim that she is making.