“How to Break Up with Your Friends" and more with Erin Falconer

May 16, 2023

Today we have a conversation with Erin Falconer, therapist and author of the book 'How to Break Up with Your Friends', discussing the importance of intentional friendship and how to navigate conflicts in these relationships. Erin explains her inspiration for writing her book, noting that while society is obsessed with tracking information, such as calorie intake, steps taken, there is no agreed-upon language or blueprint for navigating friendship. Normalizing intentional friendships can help us all work towards fostering stronger, more fulfilling friendships in our lives. It's okay to take a deeper look at our friendships and evaluate them.

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Episode notes

Introduction

00:00 • 2min

Soda cravings, guest introduction, and excitement for the upcoming conversation

02:08 • 4min

The Idea for 'How to Break Up with Your Friends'

06:11 • 18min

Breaking Up with a Friend: Initiation and Preparation

24:28 • 14min

Reflections on a Past Friendship and Taking Responsibility

38:11 • 4min

The Importance of Checking In and Expressing Gratitude in Friendships

42:07 • 9min

Having Faith, Taking Risks, and Reality TV Drama

50:39 • 1min

Friendship Breakdown Over Romantic Partner

52:00 • 18min

Today we have a conversation with Erin Falconer, therapist and author of the book “How to Break Up with Your Friends”, discussing the importance of intentional friendship and how to navigate conflicts in these relationships. Erin explains her inspiration for writing her book, noting that while society is obsessed with tracking information, such as calorie intake, steps taken, there is no agreed-upon language or blueprint for navigating friendship. The lack of focus on intentional friendship can be attributed to the fact that traditional therapy only focuses on the individual, family therapy, and couples therapy, with no equivalent for friendship. Join me in this candid conversation and please, let me know your thoughts and personal experiences around this topic!

Takeaways from this episode:

Normalizing intentional friendships can help us all work towards fostering stronger, more fulfilling friendships in our lives.
It's okay to take a deeper look at our friendships and evaluate them. It's important to recognize which friendships are important to us and which ones may not be worth investing our time and energy into.
When having a difficult conversation with a friend, it's best to do it in person or at least over the phone to avoid misunderstandings and show respect for the other person's feelings.
However, if the other person is highly defensive, emotional, or reactive, it may be better to send an email so they can process their reaction and respond later.
Before deciding to end a friendship, it's important to assess whether the relationship still makes sense for you and what you need at this point in your life.

Read "How to Break Up With Your Friends" here

IG: Erin Falconer

Thanks to Seed for sponsoring today's show - you all know i am obsessed with Seed for my digestive and skin health. Use my code ONTHEROCKS for 25% off your first month's supply of Seed's DS-01® Daily Synbiotic: seed.com/ontherocks

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