I'm not a psychologist but I play one in real life a lot. People talk to me, and I listen.
Last night a girl I'm close to opened up to me in a big way. (all through txt) She accidentally let out a bit about a relationship she doesn't talk about. So I asked a question, and she answered it. I asked another, and she answered. We continued this way for well over an hour until she had to go to bed. There were times where she said there were details no one else in the world knows, or how f*in hard it was for her to answer. I never directly acknowledged those statements because I was afraid if we got derailed or she got too self-conscious, she would stop. But afterwords, I realized they were important statements, so when she went to bed, I sent a follow-up txt thanking her for trusting me, and for keeping on even when it was hard. The only other time where what I said wasn't a question was when she called her thoughts "f*cked up". I told her it wasn't because people who have been through what she has been through often feel that way (she was raped and abused in college).
After I laid in bed, I thought about things. My attitude towards everyone is always to talk. And if there are strong feelings involved, doubly so. That's why I wanted her to keep talking about it. Did I do a good thing last night or did I do more harm than good? What should I do differently next time? How should I act towards her today, like the conversation never happened last night?