Our relationships are some of the most important parts of our lives, and our happiness is often directly correlated to the strength of those relationships. Dr. Joy Harden Bradford joins the Being Well Podcast to explore how we can apply lessons from group therapy to build stronger friendships. Forrest and Dr. Joy focus on how we can build the trust necessary for vulnerability, how attachment issues show up in friendships, and the common friend roles you might be putting yourself into without realizing it.
About our Guest: Dr. Joy is a Licensed Psychologist based out of Atlanta, Georgia, the host of the wildly popular podcast Therapy for Black Girls – which has more than 34 million downloads – and the author of the recently released book Sisterhood Heals: The Transformative Power of Healing in Community.
Forrest is now writing on Substack, check out his work there.
You can watch this episode on YouTube.
Key Topics:
- 0:00: Introduction
- 1:20: What group therapy is like, and some of its unique advantages
- 5:50: Creating a safe container for vulnerability
- 11:50: Trust, loyalty, respect, and gender dynamics
- 19:55: Attachment patterns in friendships
- 25:50: The Wallflower, the Leader, the Peacemaker, and the Firecracker
- 33:30: Navigating social circles with differing levels of openness to change
- 36:35: Challenges identifying, accepting, and expressing our needs
- 41:40: Specific challenges for black women in getting needs met
- 46:15: How stigma around therapy has changed over time
- 48:55: Curiosity, and guidelines for global sisterhood
- 52:00: Recap
