I think sometimes all people want to hear is their difficulty validated.
“Wow you did all that whilst pregnant, that’s incredible!”
“I’m not surprised you were anxious, trying to manage that guy is nearly impossible”
“You’ve never done that before? And you had no sleep beforehand? That’s incredible”
It’s not praise for the sake of praise.
Like we’re not aiming to praise a mentally well adult for figuring out how to operate a microwave.
Firstly the person is potentially an over achiever who is disappointed with their performance but they’ve overlooked the context of the events.
Their black and white thinking hasn’t allowed for this shade of grey.
Then you pointed it out and it’s like a revelation happening in front of your eyes.
Maybe I actually did do quite well?
Thomas Duggan 