
493. Coaching Hotline: Making Friends as an Adult & The Line Between Honesty and People-Pleasing
From UnF*ck Your Brain: Feminist Self-Help for Everyone by Kara Loewentheil
May 19, 2026 · 12 min · Episode 493
About this episode
This episode addresses the challenges of making friends as an adult and explores the balance between honesty and people-pleasing.
Making friends as an adult can feel intimidating, especially when it seems like your upbringing didn't give you the skills to navigate social connections. In this Coaching Hotline episode, I answer two listener questions about friendships and social interactions. I explore why it is possible to build friendships while continuing your self-work, and why the story you tell yourself about your friendship skills can keep you stuck. I also tackle the tricky line between honesty and people pleasing. I break down why volunteering opinions that nobody asked for is not automatically people pleasing and why the key is understanding your own motivations behind sharing advice or judgments. This episode will help you distinguish between speaking your truth for yourself and managing your behavior out of concern for others’ approval. Submit your own question here and it might get answered on a future episode: unfuckyourbrain.com/coachinghotline Get full show notes, transcript, and more information here: schoolofnewfeministthought.com/493 Follow along on Instagram: instagram.com/karaloewentheil/ Mentioned in this episode: Enroll now in Coach-Curious Prep School In this five-day incubator, you’ll…
People in this episode
Host: Kara Loewentheil
Topics covered
- making friends as an adult
- social interactions
- self-work
- honesty
- people pleasing
- friendship skills
Keywords
- friendship
- social skills
- self-improvement
- honesty
- people-pleasing
- adult friendships
- self-work
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: unfuckyourbrain.com, schoolofnewfeministthought.com, Coach-Curious Prep School
More episodes of UnF*ck Your Brain: Feminist Self-Help for Everyone
- Bonus: Is Coaching the Career for You? (Greatest Hits) · June 12, 2026 · 20 min
- Join me for Coach-Curious Prep School! · June 11, 2026 · 2 min
- 500. The Two Biggest Ways Women Hold Back (& What Comes Next for UFYB) · June 11, 2026 · 21 min
- 499. Coaching Hotline: Explaining Divorce to Your Kids & When People-Pleasing Kills Real Connection · June 9, 2026 · 13 min
- 498. Making Peace with the Human Void · June 4, 2026 · 23 min
- 497. Coaching Hotline: Managing Your Mind During PMS & Is Disappointment a Cop-Out? · June 2, 2026 · 11 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the UnF*ck Your Brain: Feminist Self-Help for Everyone podcast page.