By Certified Emotionally Focused Couples Therapist and Supervisor Stephanie Cox, MS, LMHC. Published by the American Counseling Association with a projected Release Date in 2027
A forthcoming clinician-informed book to adult friendship, loneliness, and attachment. Written for therapists, and surprisingly helpful even if you’ve never taken Psych 101.
If you’ve ever thought (or heard a client say):
“I’m lonely, but I don’t know what to do about it.”
“I have friends… but I don’t feel close to anyone.”
“I’m always the one reaching out.”
“Friendships keep ending the same way.”
This book will educate clinicians and clients on how to address this common and vastly important issue of adult friendship and loneliness.
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This is a clinician guide—meaning therapists will get a clear framework and tools you can actually use in sessions (and assign as homework).
And it’s written in a way that non-therapists can benefit from immediately, because it’s not therapy-speak. It’s real-life language for real-life friendship pain.
Therapists: use it for conceptualization, interventions, scripts, and repair work for your lonely clients.
Everyone else: use it to stop guessing and start building friendships that feel mutual and steady.
If you’re feeling lonely, one of the hardest parts is not knowing why it keeps happening.
So I created a short quiz to help you name the pattern underneath your friendship stress, without shaming you for it.
You’ll find out if you tend to show up as:
The Initiator • The Caring but Aloof Friend • The Peacekeeper • The Receiver • The Wispy Friend • The Steady Friend
What you’ll get:
clarity on your default “friendship style”
the core need underneath it (what you’re actually longing for)
a simple next step you can try this week
This isn’t “put yourself out there” advice. It’s a framework.
You’ll learn how to:
understand loneliness through an attachment lens (not just “social skills”)
identify common friendship cycles that keep people stuck
navigate modern friendship injuries: ghosting, slow fades, and mismatched effort
repair ruptures without begging, freezing, performing, or disappearing
build friendships that feel mutual, safe, and emotionally real
(for clinicians) translate all of this into interventions clients can actually use
Join our Friday Friend Club to get book updates and occasional friend content.
Because authors are a big part of book marketing today, early momentum matters.
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