Can Curiosity and Clear Expectations Save Your Friendships?

Insecurity is out, and Sturdiness is in for adult friendships.

In this Episode of Friendless I have on my returning guest and fan favorite, Natalie Walker. Natalie, myself, and (my infant daughter) chat in my living room about the sturdiness of friendship, the pitfalls of mom groups, how insecurity leads to comparisons (and how to call it out?!) and the importance of knowing what we want out of friendships.  If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe, leave a review, or share it with a friend who gets it. Stay tuned for my upcoming book Friendless: Why Adult Friendships Keep Failing [https://www.thebetterrelationship.com/friendlessbook], coming to a bookstore near you in Spring of 2027.   Learn more at www.thebetterrelationship.com [https://www.thebetterrelationship.com/] and connect with me on Instagram @the.better.relationship [https://www.instagram.com/the.better.relationship/] and Pinterest @thebetterrelationshipcompany [https://www.pinterest.com/thebetterrelationshipcompany/] Have your own friend story to share? Want to be on the show? Email us at support@thebetterrelationship.com.

What Do We Owe Our Friends? (A Family Chat.)

In our fifth episode of friendless, I invite you to join my family over a casual lunch as we discuss friendship experiences and opinions in a multi-generational context.  We discuss whether ghosting friends is actually the best invention of this coming generation (according to my Dad, he thinks yes). Do we have obligations to our friendships? Where does faith come into all this? (my mom weighs in) and more.  A big thank you to all our listeners as our podcast reached 250 downloads this week! If you continue to enjoy our show please reach out and let us know! And if you have topics you want me to cover I am all ears (and mic)!  If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe, leave a review, or share it with a friend who gets it. Stay tuned for my upcoming book Friendless: Why Adult Friendships Keep Failing [https://www.thebetterrelationship.com/friendlessbook], coming to a bookstore near you in Spring of 2027.   Learn more at www.thebetterrelationship.com [https://www.thebetterrelationship.com/] and connect with me on Instagram @the.better.relationship [https://www.instagram.com/the.better.relationship/] and Pinterest @thebetterrelationshipcompany [https://www.pinterest.com/thebetterrelationshipcompany/] Have your own friend story to share? Want to be on the show? Email us at support@thebetterrelationship.com.

To Have a Friend You Have to Be a Friend: A Review of the Research of Desired Friendship Qualities

To have a friend, you have to be a friend—easier said than done. In this solo episode of Friendless, I (Stephanie, Certified Emotionally Focused Couples Therapist) unpack what people actually want in close friendship and how to practice it today. Drawing on Roberts-Griffin’s 2011 study—where thousands answered “What qualities do you look for in a close friend?”—we move past the myths of proximity, popularity, and sameness and zero in on the real glue of closeness: trust, honesty, and dependable support. I translate the research into clear, usable skills rooted in attachment science and the EFCT lens (A.R.E.: Accessible, Responsive, Engaged). You’ll hear why safety—not convenience—is what keeps friendships steady through busy seasons, life changes, and inevitable missteps, and how to create that safety without turning your friendship into a second job. What we cover:  • Big finding: people name character over convenience—trust, honesty, reliable support beat “lives nearby” every time.  • Why friendships fade when they never leap from fun + similarity to safety + repair.  • Predictability over perfection: trust is the pattern, not the exception.  • Honesty that preserves the bond: say the true thing in a way that keeps the door open.  • Dependable support without codependence: right help, right time, right size. Therapists: Working toward EFCT certification and want targeted help? Join my EFCT Skills Lab waitlist—bring your toughest couples, map the cycle, and leave with your next two moves. Join the waitlist here: https://www.thebetterrelationship.com/efct-skills-lab Roberts-Griffin, C. P. (2011). What is a good friend: A qualitative analysis of desired friendship qualities. Penn McNair Research Journal, 3(1), 1–14. https://repository.upenn.edu/mcnair_scholars/vol3/iss1/5 If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe, leave a review, or share it with a friend who gets it. Stay tuned for my upcoming book Friendless: Why Adult Friendships Keep Failing [https://www.thebetterrelationship.com/friendlessbook], coming to a bookstore near you in Spring of 2027.   Learn more at www.thebetterrelationship.com [https://www.thebetterrelationship.com/] and connect with me on Instagram @the.better.relationship [https://www.instagram.com/the.better.relationship/] and Pinterest @thebetterrelationshipcompany [https://www.pinterest.com/thebetterrelationshipcompany/] Have your own friend story to share? Want to be on the show? Email us at support@thebetterrelationship.com.

Can Curiosity and Clear Expectations Save Your Friendships?

On this episode of Friendless, I sit down with my close friend Natalie Walker—a biblical counselor with a gift for gentle truth-telling—to unpack why adult friendship feels so hard. We get honest about unspoken expectations, the fear of being “too much,” the temptation to stay “low maintenance,” and the insecurity of feeling replaceable—and we make the case that curiosity is love in action: when you truly want to know how a friend is doing (not just checking a box), you ask better questions, listen longer, and build the kind of safety that creates the friendships we want. We talk about why friendships actually get stronger when we name the awkward stuff and follow it with genuine, curious care—and why so many connections fade right at that repair step. If you’ve ever wished for friends you can be real with (and real again after conflict), this episode offers simple skills—initiate, ask better questions, be curious on purpose—to make closeness possible.  If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe, leave a review, or share it with a friend who gets it. Stay tuned for my upcoming book Friendless: Why Adult Friendships Keep Failing [https://www.thebetterrelationship.com/friendlessbook], coming to a bookstore near you in Spring of 2027.   Learn more at www.thebetterrelationship.com [https://www.thebetterrelationship.com/] and connect with me on Instagram @the.better.relationship [https://www.instagram.com/the.better.relationship/] and Pinterest @thebetterrelationshipcompany [https://www.pinterest.com/thebetterrelationshipcompany/] Have your own friend story to share? Want to be on the show? Email us at support@thebetterrelationship.com.

What Makes a Good Friend?

What makes someone a really good friend? And what, exactly, makes someone… not? In this episode, I sit down with my husband and best friend, James Cox, to ask the question thats central to this podcast: What makes a good friend? We talk about: * The difference between fast friends (party pals) vs. slow friends (the kind you can just sit around with on your worst days) * Why being a good listener might be the most underrated friendship skill (and the rarest)  * How friendship can thrive (or flop) when quality time becomes an issue * What makes a bad friend (👀 we went there) * And more... This one’s thoughtful, and full of those “oh yes” moments that’ll make you think about your own friendships a little differently. Come eavesdrop on the kind of late-night conversation we usually save for the couch. 🎧 Tap play to join us. If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe, leave a review, or share it with a friend who gets it. Stay tuned for my upcoming book Friendless: Why Adult Friendships Keep Failing [https://www.thebetterrelationship.com/friendlessbook], coming to a bookstore near you in Spring of 2027.   Learn more at www.thebetterrelationship.com [https://www.thebetterrelationship.com/] and connect with me on Instagram @the.better.relationship [https://www.instagram.com/the.better.relationship/] and Pinterest @thebetterrelationshipcompany [https://www.pinterest.com/thebetterrelationshipcompany/] Have your own friend story to share? Want to be on the show? Email us at support@thebetterrelationship.com.