What is a real friendship?  Are there actual characteristics that you one can pinpoint to evaluate whether or not a friendship is worth keeping? In this episode Dr. Greg Hamlin briefly comments on these questions by outlining 10 features of satisfying friendships.  This is part one of a periodic series on the nature of emotionally intelligent friendships.  By understanding these 10 characteristics of friendship, it lays the groundwork for having perspective on how to build friendships over time.

14: Ten Characteristics of Real Friendship

What is emotional intelligence?  How does emotional intelligence make you a better lover, leader, parent, or friend? What is mindfulness? How do you negotiate a win-win agreement?  What is the easiest way to calm your stress symptoms at work? How do you speak to a narcissist? What is anxiety? What are the symptoms of depression?  Psychologist and coach Greg Hamlin takes up questions like these and more.  He offers skills, tools, and steps for less stress, more emotional intelligence, more satisfying relationships, along with greater well-being.

Self-Help

Health

Social Sciences

Science & Medicine

Science

Health & Fitness

More than 1 in 10 adults in the U.S. experiences a panic attack during any 12 month period.  Dr. Greg Hamlin uses a simple illustration that helps explain panic attacks to those who have never had them.  Panic attacks come in many awful varieties and yet rarely are they dangerous. This episode is about demystifying panic attacks in order to set the stage for getting rid of them.

20: What is a Panic Attack?

The research of Dr. John Gottman has spanned over 40 years and lays claim to the most scientific understanding of what makes couples happy together and what breaks them apart.  In this episode Dr. Hamlin discusses Gottman's famous "Four Horsemen" as patterns of communication and how to use them in a dating relationship.  Unless these 4 negative communication patterns are recognized and changed, the future spells trouble for the couple.  These four ways of interacting are the most important areas to think about, talk about with each other, and change together.

19: A Crystal Ball for Your Relationship

Disappointments are a part of life.  The smaller they are, the easier it is to "just get over it."  But major loss brings disappointment to a whole new level.  When loss has a magnitude that is earth-shattering we also find that our coping mechanisms are shattered.  The death of a loved one, the loss of a relationship, and even intangible losses can leave us floundering.  This is because the grief process requires us to grow in our emotional intelligence in gut-wrenching ways.  If we try to avoid this, we just prolong our misery. The process of grief is a natural process of moving from point A (crushing loss that leaves us broken) to point B (full adjustment to our new reality).  Sadly, there is much confusion about what grief is and what to do with it. In this episode Dr. Hamlin offers tools to understand the process of grief and steps to move through it.  He also describes how the right kind of therapy can make the whole process easier and faster.

18: The Express Train Through the Grief Tunnel

People with mild paranoia often have difficulties in relationships.  Their trust issues take a particular form.  They are suspicious, quick to read between the lines, quick to assume that the person speaking with them has a hidden motive.  At times, they will accuse others of having thoughts and intentions that are not there.  It creates anger, frustration, and a whole boat-load of misunderstanding. In this episode, Dr. Hamlin explains how to recognize this pattern in others and in one's self.  He briefly discusses the causes of this way of thinking.  Finally, he offers tips for how to deal with it in a constructive manner.

17:  Trust Issues in Relationships

What does it look like to have a friend who is also your mentor?  What is the value of being mentored by someone who your friend?  In this episode Dr. Hamlin reflects on one of his own friendships to illustrate a few defining principles of mentoring friendships.  In the context of friendship, a mentor is an encourager and a witness to the forward movement of your life. "This episode is dedicated to Erwin Mooradian, friend and mentor, who passed away in May 2017."      -- GH

14: Ten Characteristics of Real Friendship

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