419 Loneliness & Gender

Pat Love & Steven Stosny • Saturday Morning
A recent survey revealed that 62 percent of American adults have talked to no one or to only one person about anything important to them in the last six months. A Harvard Medical School study describes loneliness as “a very real and little-discussed social epidemic with frightening consequences.” While both men and women suffer from loneliness, they respond quite differently and present different kinds of clinical challenges when they come to our offices. In this workshop, we’ll discuss how to help clients confront the loneliness in their lives by looking beyond immediate symptoms to questions of their core values, investment in their communities, attitudes toward work, and sense of life purpose. We’ll pay particular attention to the different ways men and women experience loneliness and gender-sensitive ways to help them develop attachment skills that can lead to more emotionally rewarding connections with others.

Pat Love, Ed.D., a relationship consultant and licensed marriage and family therapist, is the coauthor of Hot Monogamy and How to Improve Your Marriage Without Talking About It.

Steven Stosny, Ph.D., is the director of Compassion Power. He’s the author of Love without Hurt and the coauthor of How to Improve Your Marriage Without Talking About It.