400 Friends and No One to Call: Breaking through Isolation and Building Community

Walker, Val

ISBN 10: 1949481247 / ISBN 13: 9781949481242

Published by Central Recovery Press, 2020

About this Item

Seller Inventory # mon0003942558

Bibliographic Details

• Title: 400 Friends and No One to Call: Breaking through Isolation and Building Community
• Publisher: Central Recovery Press
• Publication Date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1949481247
• ISBN 13: 9781949481242
• Binding: paperback
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

A friendly, candid, and comforting guide for isolating times when we have no one to count on.

Despite the inclusive promise of social media, loneliness is a growing epidemic in the United States. Social isolation can shatter our confidence. In isolating times, we’re not only lonely, we’re also ashamed because our society stigmatizes people who appear to be without support.

As a single, fifty-eight-year-old woman, Val Walker found herself stranded and alone after major surgery when her friends didn’t show up. As a professional rehabilitation counselor, she was too embarrassed to reveal how utterly isolated she was by asking for someone to help, and it felt agonizingly awkward calling colleagues out of the blue. As she recovered, Val found her voice and developed a plan of action for people who lack social support, not only to heal from the pain of isolation, but to create a solid strategy for rebuilding a sense of community.

400 Friends and No One to Call spells out the how-tos for befriending our wider community, building a social safety net, and fostering our sense of belonging. On a deeper level, we are invited to befriend our loneliness, rather than feel ashamed of it, and open our hearts and minds to others trapped in isolation.

About the Author

Val Walker is a rehabilitation consultant and a contributing blogger for Psychology Today. She is the author of The Art of Comforting, which won the Nautilus Book Award and was recommended by the Boston Public Health Commission as a guide for families impacted by the Boston Marathon Bombing. With a master of science degree in rehabilitation counseling from Virginia Commonwealth University, she has led support groups for twenty-four years for people living with chronic illness, disability, grief, and trauma. She lives in Boston and teaches and speaks throughout New England. Catch up with Val at valwalkerauthor.com