Communion begins with witnessing: the moment someone else recognizes your reality without minimizing it. Trauma researchers often describe how validation and safe attachment support recovery, because the nervous system learns that danger has passed when care is reliably present. Even outside clinical language, people know this intuitively—like the friend who doesn’t offer solutions, but stays on the phone while you breathe through a hard night.
In that sense, hooks’ claim emphasizes that healing requires an audience of compassion. The simple act of being met—rather than managed—can be a turning point. [...]
