The importance of validation with therapist Caroline Fleck | ReThinking with Adam Grant

Seeking acceptance is a natural part of the human experience — but do you know how to dish it out? Clinical psychologist Caroline Fleck believes that validating others is a key to building stronger relationships. She and Adam discuss strategies for recognizing another person’s feelings, the distinction between empathetic validation and exaggerated praise, and why sometimes saying less is more. Photo credit: ©Caroline Fleck from https://drcarolinefleck.com/digital-press-kit/ The TED Audio Collective is a collection of podcasts for the curious. The TED Audio Collective videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives (or the CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with our TED Talks Usage Policy (https://www.ted.com/about/our-organiz...). For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), please submit a Media Request at https://media-requests.ted.com. 00:00 Intro 00:38 Caroline's origin story 06:01 What is validation? 09:22 How to validate someone 15:11 Only validate the valid 17:49 CBT vs. DBT 20:09 Managing anger 22:26 Validation vs. problem solving 28:37 Dealing with oversharers 31:20 Lightning round 34:51 When should you seek validation?

Caroline FleckguestAdam Granthost

Jun 13, 202536mWatch on YouTube ↗

EPISODE INFO

Released: June 13, 2025
Duration: 36m
Channel: Re:Thinking with Adam Grant
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Seeking acceptance is a natural part of the human experience — but do you know how to dish it out? Clinical psychologist Caroline Fleck believes that validating others is a key to building stronger relationships. She and Adam discuss strategies for recognizing another person’s feelings, the distinction between empathetic validation and exaggerated praise, and why sometimes saying less is more. Photo credit: ©Caroline Fleck from https://drcarolinefleck.com/digital-press-kit/ The TED Audio Collective is a collection of podcasts for the curious. The TED Audio Collective videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives (or the CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with our TED Talks Usage Policy (https://www.ted.com/about/our-organiz...). For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), please submit a Media Request at https://media-requests.ted.com. 00:00 Intro 00:38 Caroline's origin story 06:01 What is validation? 09:22 How to validate someone 15:11 Only validate the valid 17:49 CBT vs. DBT 20:09 Managing anger 22:26 Validation vs. problem solving 28:37 Dealing with oversharers 31:20 Lightning round 34:51 When should you seek validation?

SPEAKERS

Caroline Fleck
guest
Clinical psychologist and author specializing in validation skills and therapeutic communication.
Adam Grant
host
Organizational psychologist and host of the ReThinking podcast.

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Re:Thinking with Adam Grant, featuring Caroline Fleck and Adam Grant, The importance of validation with therapist Caroline Fleck | ReThinking with Adam Grant explores validation builds acceptance and change across relationships, therapy, and work. Validation is not praise or agreement; it communicates mindfulness, understanding, and empathy so others feel accepted and safe.

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