Welcome to the Therapy for Black Girls Podcast, a weekly conversation about mental health,

personal development, and all the small decisions we can make to become the best possible versions

of ourselves.

I'm your host, Dr. Joy Harden Bradford, a licensed psychologist in Atlanta, Georgia.

For more information or to find a therapist in your area, visit our website at therapyforblackgirls.com.

While I hope you love listening to and learning from the podcast, it is not meant to be a substitute

for a relationship with a licensed mental health professional.

Hey y'all, thanks so much for joining me for a session 118 of the Therapy for Black Girls Podcast.

Much of this summer, we've been talking about our relationships with other sisters

as a part of our Summer of Sisterhood campaign.

And one of the main questions that many of you had was how do I find friends as an adult?

So you know I had to find someone who could give us the full scoop on this area.

Today, you'll get a chance to hear my conversation with Dr. Marissa Franco.

Dr. Franco earned her BS in Applied Psychology from New York University and her Masters

and PhD in Counseling Psychology from the University of Maryland.

She has worked as a professor of psychology at Georgia State University

and is currently transitioning to work in policy where she'll be applying research towards

bettering people's lives. She has published 20 research articles and has received research grants

from the National Institute of Health and the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues.

She's passionate about making research accessible to the general population

and has channeled this passion into writing a book on the Psychology of Friendship,

called Platonic. Dr. Franco and I chatted about the most important aspects of making friends,

...