Our relationships are some of the most important parts of our life, and our happiness is often directly correlated to the strength of those relationships. Dr. Joy Harden Bradford joins the 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 placing 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 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

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