The Loneliness Epidemic

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Mary-Frances O'Connor, PhD Related seminars and products

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Mary Frances O’Connor, PhD, is a professor of psychology at the University of Arizona, where she directs the Grief, Loss and Social Stress (GLASS) Lab. She earned a PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Arizona in 2004 and following a faculty appointment at UCLA, she returned to the University of Arizona in 2012. Her research focuses on the neurobiological, cardiovascular, and immune response to bereavement. She believes that a clinical science approach toward the experience and physiology of grief can improve psychological treatment. Dr. O’ Connor’s first book, The Grieving Brain: The Surprising Science of How We Learn from Love and Loss (2022; HarperOne) has garnered praise from peers and literary critics alike and has led to speaking engagements around the world. Her new book, The Grieving Body: How the Stress of Loss Can Be an Opportunity for Healing was published in February, 2025.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Mary-Frances O'Connor has an employment relationship with the University of Arizona and receives royalties as a published author. She receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Mary-Frances O'Connor has no relevant non-financial relationships.

 

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Objectives

1. Name the neurobiological and immune components of loneliness and how they affect behavior.
2. Compare the experience of lifelong chronic loneliness beginning in childhood with the experience of loneliness after midlife events like bereavement, even if one has family support.
3. Examine why social skills training and increasing opportunities for socializing are not sufficient to reduce loneliness, and instead it is necessary to target maladaptive beliefs.

Outline

The Loneliness Epidemic

• Why loneliness is now considered a public health crisis
• Links between loneliness, trauma, and attachment disruption
• Risks, limitations and scope of practice

The Neuroscience of Isolation

• How the brain and immune system encode social pain and connection
• Loneliness as a neurobiological imprint of trauma

Cognition and Connection

• Identifying maladaptive social beliefs that maintain isolation
• Using social neuroscience to rebuild motivation for connection

Grief as Learning

• Understanding bereavement as an adaptive neurocognitive process
• Restoring safety and belonging after loss

Clinical Tools for Healing

• Compassion and self-compassion practices for reconnection
• Grief-informed interventions to transform isolation into resilience

Target Audience

• Counselors
• Social Workers
• Psychologists
• Psychiatrists
• Marriage and Family Therapists
• Addiction Counselors
• Other Mental Health Professionals