Friendshifts: The Power of Friendship and How It Shapes Our Lives

Understanding the changes that friendships go through is the first step to helping them last. This book helps you to do that. It gives the reasons behind why friends act and say the things they do, and how to handle shifts throughout the course of life. I wished I had read this book sooner-it may have helped me understand my own friendships more.And the advice here may help you to make an educated choice on whether to continue a friendship or end it. A great read and highly recommended.

No matter what stage in life we are in, friends are needed for sharing experiences and receiving support whether if good or bad things happen to us. They are our mental `lifesavers' and without them we do much worse and are more woundable. Like our family, our friends are the reason for the persons we are and participate in shaping our life as we grow. The author, Dr. Jan Yager has a Ph.D in sociology and her books are also based on interviews and surveys. She has created the word Friendshifts® to show us the way our friendships change as we go from one stage in life to another. Our friendships change as our life does. We make friends in our childhood, as teens, as adults, and in our elderly life. We form new friends by moving, change in interests, entering a new school or getting a new job, a promotion or a new sport.More insights in this book are how to be a better friend, how to prevent a friendship from ending and how we handle it when it does. Furthermore, it tells us about friendships at work and gender friendships.

Throughout our lives, friendships are among the most enduring and treasured relationships. They are often complex and of many variations: old friends, new friends, lifetime friends, close friends, casual friends, etc. Friendships are seldom static, and they evolve, grow, deepen and sometimes even wither and fade away. Sociologist and author Dr. Jan Yager, in her excellent book "Friendshifts: The Power of Friendship and How It Shapes Our Lives," explores all the various facets of these most precious connections. "Friendshifts" offers thoughtful, insightful and wise observations which can only serve to strengthen the "ties that bind" and increase our understanding of these dynamics. Highly recommended!

Friendshifts is one my favorite books of all time! I read it cover to cover and still keep it at my bedside as a reference! It has helped me to understand why some of my friendships have lasted 20 years and others only 20 minutes! What I found most interesting though, were the insights into all of the relationships in between. This book has helped me to discover why I may maintain a relationship with someone I instinctively prefer to hold at arm's length, and why I sometimes manage to lose touch with someone I hold dear. Friendships are an enormous part of my life and to understand them better, and to understand myself better, is nothing short of a blessing to me. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the many facets of friendship.

What a great look at ourselves and our relationshiips. It seems in this fast-paced world the friend relationships seem to be one of the most challenging. Dr. Yager addresses all aspects of friendship and how it can be a benefit or detriment to us and our lives. I haven't always made the best choices when it came to friends in my life, however after reading her book, I will make different choices and be more able to make ones that nurture me rather than control or take away from the person I really am. This book helped me see myself in a whole new light and my friendships. I have been able to make assertive steps toward controlling relationships and I have watched the friendship shift right before my eyes thanks to the encouragement and wisdom shared in this book. I think it would help any of us that are struggling with relationships know how to develop meaningful friendships that enhance our lives and our experiences with deeper meaning. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this book to anyone who wants to surround themselves with the right kind of friends....for them... and handle the relationships that are troubling.