Episode 270  |  August 20, 2026

What Loneliness Is Trying to Tell You with Dr. Alison Cook

There's a lot of longing in the Psalms. There's a lot of awareness of longing, hope deferred. You know, it makes the heart sick. That's a hope that is acknowledged. And so the inner work is to not bypass that, to not minimize, to say, this is hard.
— Dr. Alison Cook

Why Are We So Lonely Even When We're Not Alone?

Host Curtis Chang talks with psychologist and podcaster Dr. Alison Cook about why America’s loneliness epidemic can’t be solved by simply adding more people to our lives. They explore how attachment wounds, anxiety, distraction, and modern life leave us disconnected—and how solitude and honest prayer can become paths toward healing. Dr. Cook offers a practice for loneliness: “recognize and return”—name what you feel, then remember, “I am loved even here.”

Chapters
02:46
Why Do We Minimize Loneliness?
05:12
What Is Attachment Theory?
10:31
Childhood Wounds and Cultural Context
13:42
Where God Enters the Healing Process
16:14
The Inner Dialogue with God
20:44
The Importance of Solitude
27:20
The Modern Epidemic of Loneliness
35:16
Loneliness as a Holy Longing
39:22
Spiritual Practices for a Healthy Inner Life
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The books and research behind this conversation.

The Secure Soul: Finding Inner Strength and Connection When Trust Doesn't Come Easy
Book  •  Alison Cook  •  Thomas Nelson  •  August 18, 2026
→
Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation
Report  •  Office of the U.S. Surgeon General  •  U.S. Department of Health and Human Services  •  May 3, 2023
→
Existential Psychotherapy
Book  •  Irvin D. Yalom  •  Basic Books  •  1980
→
Life Together
Book  •  Dietrich Bonhoeffer  •  Chr. Kaiser Verlag  •  1939
→
Dr. Alison Cook's Website
Website  •  Alison Cook  •  dralisoncook.com  •  Evergreen page, no date
→
The Best of You
Podcast  •  Alison Cook  •  Apple Podcasts  •  Evergreen page, no date
→

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Scripture from This Episode

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.
Psalm 42:5
But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.
Psalm 131:2
Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!
Psalm 139:23–24
Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”
Genesis 2:18
For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
Romans 8:22–23
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