It's almost as hard to generalize about friendship problems as it is to figure out how to solve them, but here are eight common situations and ways you can address them.
Dr. Irene S. Levine | Posted 03.05.2012
"My experience is that people don't really want authenticity but think they do --- until it gets hard and difficult scenarios come up."
Dr. Irene S. Levine | Posted 03.04.2012
Here are five simple ways to improve my friendships and yours over the coming year.
Dr. Irene S. Levine | Posted 02.12.2012
Right now, only we know about it, but it's bound to spread around the office. I am not planning to say anything, but she likely will. What do I do?
Dr. Irene S. Levine | Posted 02.08.2012
This year, one of my daughter's friends told her she doesn't have straight hair and shouldn't play with them. Then she started ignoring my daughter. I know that my child feels hurt and I'm concerned about her. Signed, Worried Mom
Dr. Irene S. Levine | Posted 01.29.2012
Amanda and Heather took to each other very quickly. So quickly that it became the three of us whenever something social was happening. I started to feel like the third wheel.
Dr. Irene S. Levine | Posted 01.15.2012
Moving from a small school where you knew everyone for many years to a large, anonymous university campus with thousands of students is a big change that requires a period of adjustment. But many other freshmen are likely to be in the same boat as you.
Dr. Irene S. Levine | Posted 01.11.2012
When we're lonely, it's natural to think about reaching back into the past to resurrect relationships with old school chums -- but be cautious. You may realize that you have even less in common with these friends -- except for your shared history.
Shasta Nelson, M.Div. | Posted 11.27.2011
Do a google search with two words that by definition shouldn't be in the same sentence, "avoid" and "friend," and you'll get a list of 409,000,000 articles helping you figure out which friends to drop.
Dr. Irene S. Levine | Posted 11.19.2011
More than a decade ago, Kappa Delta Sorority created Friendship Day, and then turned it into a month-long celebration of friendship called, National W...
Daylle Deanna Schwartz | Posted 11.02.2011
The expression simply means take your time to get to know someone well -- male or female -- so they can earn your trust instead of giving it away. It's about protecting yourself from potential disappointment.
Dr. Irene S. Levine | Posted 10.11.2011
Friendships carry risks when they unravel and this is particularly true in the workplace. Yet, we spend so much of our lives at work that it's natural we would develop close friendships there.
Dr. Irene S. Levine | Posted 09.26.2011
QUESTION Dear Irene, I've been friends with a woman for about four years now. As time progressed, we became closer, or so I thought. We both moved h...
Shasta Nelson, M.Div. | Posted 09.14.2011
We often hold up childhood friends as the ideal friendship. Rather, it's frequently the people we meet along the way that can foster the bonds with us that feel most substantial.
Shasta Nelson, M.Div. | Posted 08.30.2011
Summer brings up a lot of idealized pictures: family vacations, backyard barbeques with neighbors, street festivals with friends. In that gap between our hopes and our reality often comes the surprising feeling of loneliness.
Dr. Irene S. Levine | Posted 11.17.2011
Continuing to ruminate about the lost friendship will only make you more depressed rather than bringing about closure. Instead, try to reframe your thinking to allow for the possibility that it had more to do with her than with you.
Dr. Irene S. Levine | Posted 11.17.2011
Here are some possible reasons that someone might have difficulty developing close, reciprocal relationships with friends.
Dr. Irene S. Levine | Posted 11.17.2011
QUESTION Hi Irene, I was Googling 'toxic friends' and came across your blog. I am friends with a pretty great group of women, with the exception of ...
Dr. Irene S. Levine | Posted 11.17.2011
QUESTION Hi Irene: Three friends never seem to work. One person always gets excluded in one way or another. I just moved to a new town where my husb...
Dr. Irene S. Levine | Posted 11.17.2011
QUESTION Hi Irene, My best friend from college (who later was my maid of honor) and I had a fall out three years ago. After 13 years of friendship, ...
Dr. Irene S. Levine | Posted 11.17.2011
QUESTION Hi Irene, I've been burdened with the knowledge that the husband of one of my closest friends was unfaithful to her. They have two very you...
Rachel Bertsche | Posted 11.17.2011
A dinner guest had a fabulous theory for testing out whether a city is generally friendly or not: "You can tell by whether or not other girls talk to you while you wait in line for the restroom." I love this. It's a brilliant barometer.
Dr. Irene S. Levine | Posted 11.17.2011
QUESTION Hi Irene, Three and a half years ago I left my husband. We divorced amicably and have a collaborative and supportive co-parenting relatio...
Dr. Irene S. Levine | Posted 11.17.2011
QUESTION Hi Irene, I have a certain friend with whom I've grown very close over a relatively short period of time (a little over a year). She is an ...
Dr. Irene S. Levine | Posted 11.17.2011
Saying NO can unravel a friendship but sometimes there's no way around it. Many of us have a hard time saying NO to a friend. When someone's a tru...
Dr. Irene S. Levine | Posted 03.21.2012