Guy,

I can't agree more with you in this. Acknowledging a person's current emotional state is effective in diffusing the "charged" situation. Although it might be just arguing semantics, and I'm not a trained counselor/psychologist, etc., I would disagree with Fergus that we don't necessarily want to validate a person's emotional state. There are times where the anger may be misplaced and inappropriate, and to validate it says that you're right to be angry, which could give license to stay angry.  I have found that if you acknowledge a person's emotional state and seek to understand why, they are more likely to move to the solution phase much quicker. Especially in these times of virtual relationships and feeling like we have no control, just knowing we have been heard can diffuse most situations.

Jeff.