Allow your wife to cry. While you may feel uncomfortable when your wife is upset to the point of crying, it's important for her to process her feelings. Perhaps the ideal reaction in this case is to simply embrace your wife and allow her to cry. Words don't necessarily need to be spoken, but in allowing your wife to cry, you are encouraging her to express how she is feeling. Additionally, having a conversation may be the last thing your wife wants to do when she's very upset.

Listen actively to what your wife says. Active listening isn't as easy as having a conversation; it means refraining from voicing opinion or judgment, not interrupting and focusing on the conversation and nothing else. This facilitates communication that allows your wife to express and process her thoughts without concern for what she is saying. Interrupting, interjecting opinions or engaging in other activities while listening may cause defensiveness and your wife may not be as comfortable being comforted by you.

Avoid trying to "fix" what is making your wife upset. At times, and especially when your wife is upset, there is a natural human inclination to want to make things better. Comfort however, doesn't always have to entail changing the situation or person who is the source of your wife's feelings. Being upset, in and of itself, is a way of processing strong emotions, so your wife isn't necessarily in need of an intervention. Allow your wife to lead the conversation, and avoid making suggestions as to what to do to provide comfort.

Comfort physically, rather than emotionally. Touching another person, via a hug or a gentle arm placed around your wife's shoulder, can cause biochemical changes in her body. These changes, explains the National Institutes of Health, facilitate the release of the hormone oxytocin which improves mood and decreases stress. So, although you might not feel like physical comfort is helpful, it's actually therapeutic and at times, easier than having an in-depth conversation.