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Companionship: The Capacity for Companionship and Friendship

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Markers of Psychosocial Maturation
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Abstract

Though the need for companionship is innate, the capacity for companionship and, later, friendship requires nurturance and cultivation, beginning with our early caregivers who serve as our original and primary companions. A friend is someone whose companionship we cherish and in whose presence we can engage in free associative discourse while trustingly expecting an evenly caring attention. Yet, there will always be a dialectical tension between revealing and concealing ourselves even to our best friend. Discernment in self-disclosure is necessary while remaining attuned to the sensitivities of our best friend.

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Correspondence to Mufid James Hannush .

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Hannush, M.J. (2021). Companionship: The Capacity for Companionship and Friendship. In: Markers of Psychosocial Maturation. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74315-4_12

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