I can understand why you though get sharing your own experiences might make her feel less alone, but it can unfortunately have the opposite effect. If you want her to feel understood, why not let her do the talking and really listen to her. Even if you have had the same experience, you may feel very differently about it or cope with it in different ways. Plus, kids rarely want to listen to their parents talk about how they had he same experience “back in the old days.” They feel like everything is different now. Maybe she would feel more heard if you just listened to her (without any criticizing) and just validated her experience and thanked her for opening up to you. It might take her some time to feel comfortable doing that, but keep trying. She has to know that it’s really safe before she might start sharing her private feelings.
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