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“Bear with me – I plan to be moody, cold, indifferent and angry, and oh yeah, occasionally friendly over the next six months as I adjust to this illness,” Dr. Rapaport declared as a strategy to talk to friends about being diagnosed. Learning to live with an illness is scary. Doing it alone is impossible. Most people want to be included, but they don’t know how. This podcast is an open, honest look into strategies for maintaining friendships through the roller coaster of life.
Wendy Satin Rapaport, Psy. D., LCSW, is a clinical psychologist, who specializes in psychology-related facets of the health-care field, working with providers and patients. Dr. Rapaport is also an adjunct professors at the Diabetes Research Institute, part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, and at the University of Maine Graduate School of Social Work. She has interest in behavioral medicine and humor which motivates her research, teaching, and writing.
Sanda Neshin Bernstein, Psy.D., is a clinical psychologist, who has worked in both school districts and universities. Dr. Bernstein is trained in psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, and as a school psychologist. She has a private practice where she sees both adolescents and adults. She has taught in Adelphi university’s Postgraduate Program in Psychodynamic School Psychology.
Friendship Matters is a unique and personal story, two friends mine their own experiences to explain the principles 
necessary for maintaining a high-quality, long-term friendship. Using a conversational format, the authors provide tools for building enriching relationships. From helping to understand emotional literacy to the nuts and bolts of being friends (such as giving and taking constructive criticism), they share a story that is helpful and optimistic. Learn why friendship matters, and what matters most in a good friendship.
Episode Outline:
- Bernstein and Rapaport introduction
- How to talk to your friends about a diagnosis
- How your friends can talk to you about a diagnosis
- How to hold onto a friend over time no matter the circumstance
- How friendship is good for your overall health and well-being
- How to approach friends that you had closed the door on long ago
- How to talk to your family, doctors and employers about being diagnosed with a chronic illness
- Why a psychologist should be on board during a diagnosis and how it doesn’t mean you’re crazy
- About Friendship Matters and how writing a book together grew a friendship
- Humor and emotional literacy as coping strategies
- Closing thoughts
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