What’s the single best action a person can take now to live a longer life? How do you take the edge off depression? What can single people do to flourish, and partnered people do to revitalize their romantic relationships? One answer: having good friendships.

Our guest is Dr. Marisa G. Franco psychologist and author of “Platonic: How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make – and Keep - Friends.” In this episode (part 1 of 2), they talk about loneliness, how to have high-quality friendships, friendship among men, and the pitfalls of leaning on romantic partnerships for everything.

(03:38)    Have we gotten rusty at friendship?

(05:22)    Are we in a state of “learned loneliness?”

(07:53)    What’s driving the narrowing of friend networks?

(10:54)    What makes for a high-quality friendship?

(14:36)    Romantic versus platonic love

(17:07)    How can same-sex friendships help us understand friendship?

(21:43)    How can men have deeper friendships?

(25:05)    Dr. Franco’s interest in friendship

(27:48)    What is attachment theory and what’s your style?

(30:13)    Setting up our kids for healthy friendships

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Dr. Marisa G. Franco, Friendship Expert & Psychologist

Twitter: @DrMarisaGFranco

Instagram: @drmarisagfranco

About Dr. Marisa G. Franco

A psychologist, speaker, and bestselling author, Dr. Marisa G. Franco is known for digesting and communicating science in ways that resonate deeply enough with people to change their lives. She is a professor at The University of Maryland and authored the NYT bestseller Platonic: How The Science of Attachment Can Help You Make—and Keep—Friends.  She writes about friendship for  Psychology Today  and has been a featured in  The New York Times, The Telegraph, and  Vice. She speaks on belonging at corporations, government agencies, non-profits, and universities.

For tips on friendship, you can follow her on Instagram (DrMarisaGFranco), or go to her website, www.DrMarisaGFranco.com, where you can take a quiz to assess your strengths and weaknesses as a friend.