How to Build Adult Friendships
From ShrinkChicks by Jennifer Chaiken, LMFT and Emmalee Bierly, LMFT
June 1, 2026 · 37 min · Season 8 · Episode 22
About this episode
The episode discusses the challenges of making adult friendships and offers insights on maintaining and navigating these relationships.
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen talk about making friends as an adult and why something that used to happen naturally can suddenly feel so difficult. They unpack what actually creates friendship (hint: it’s less chemistry and more repeated proximity), why exclusion feels so dysregulating, and how friendships naturally evolve over time. They answer listener questions about where to meet people, making friends without kids, maintaining self-esteem when you feel left out, navigating friendships that have drifted, and what to do when one friend starts carrying too much emotional weight. They also talk about introversion, political differences in friendship, and how to know when a friendship is changing versus when it’s truly run its course. Tune in to gain insight, awareness, and action! PS: Fast forward to around 4:30 to skip the intro and get straight to today’s content. Get Matched With One of Our Therapists at The Therapy Group! ShrinkChicks on Instagram Our Know Yourself Grow Yourself Journal !! Check out ShrinkChicks on YouTube by subscribing here! https://youtube.com/channel/UCrxuhDqoL4ML3UE8b2J2BBg A special thank you to this week's sponsors for supporting…
People in this episode
Hosts: Jennifer Chaiken, Emmalee Bierly
Topics covered
- adult friendships
- making friends
- self-esteem
- navigating friendships
- introversion
- political differences
Keywords
- friendship
- adult friendships
- self-esteem
- introversion
- social connections
- emotional weight
- navigating friendships
Sponsors
Boll & Branch, Skims
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