Hidden Gems: Meet Lexi Joondeph-Breidbart of Lonely Hearts Club

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lexi Joondeph-Breidbart.

Hi Lexi, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Romantic breakups are an intense grief that our society dismisses. It’s a grief that puts an individual in an intense and raw emotional state and place of vulnerability. As a social worker, and as an individual that has experienced a breakup, I saw a gap in services for people navigating this specific kind of loss. This is what led me to starting Lonely Hearts Club in May of 2020. Since then, Lonely Hearts Club has run 30 groups and counting, and has worked with over 100 members. The support I have seen in each group is inspiring. In the beginning of the first session, these individuals are strangers and by the end of that first hour, they are confidantes with a great level of understanding for one another.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There have been bumps. Balancing the natural instinct to so badly want to help everyone that shows interest in joining the group with the discernment of carefully deciding which individuals would make a good fit, was a challenge I faced early on. With experience, it has now been easier to be transparent when an individual could benefit from a different kind of support.

Payment was also something that caused challenges in the beginning. When I first started the group, I charged a very low rate and left two spots open for people who could not afford the group. I found that when individuals are not financially committed, they don’t show up consistently. The group suffers when members are not committed.

Adjusting “Group Agreements” was great learning curve. We have had members that come to the group for support, and it is then discovered in each session that the individual is still in daily contact with their ex and working towards reconciliation. Before a member joins, we now ask that they not contact their ex over the eight weeks and commit to their breakup.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Lonely Hearts Club?
Lonely Hearts Club is a breakup support group for individuals finding it difficult to heal from heartbreak. We specialize in grief from romantic relationships whether that relationship ended a week ago or five years ago. We are known for helping individuals feel supported and validated in their heartbreak.

We’re different than any other group because we pay close attention to the themes our members bring to each session. We know modern technology impacts individuals in healing from their breakup. Whether it’s looking at an ex’s Spotify account, Duolingo, Strava, Instagram follower count, and more, we create a space for members to share the difficult parts of going through a modern breakup.

Running groups for six years, we have also created an extensive “topics” list that includes talking about: reconciliation fantasy, the “pedestal mindset,” “euphoric recall,” confrontation fantasy, grief of the future, and so many more. When telling members about these topics to see what resonates with them, we hear how understood they feel in their experience.

I am so proud of our team, Megan Rubano and Jordan Bell. Their dedication to learning about all the news ways individuals are impacted by breakups and how to show up for each individual in each group is so exciting and motivating for me as a founder. Society may be dismissive of the grief breakups cause, but our team handles each member’s story with so much care and validation.

What’s next?
Our plans are to continue running the groups as we have and work on building awareness for our brand. We want to get the Lonely Hearts Club name out there and run as many groups as we can!

Pricing:

• Group membership is $50/session paid upfront ($400) for the full eight weeks. If you decide to drop out after the first session, you will receive a refund for the remaining seven sessions.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lonelyheartsclubnyc.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lonelyheartsclub_nyc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LonelyHeartsClubNYC

Image Credits
Lexi’s photo was done by Erica Berger. Megan Rubano’s photo was done by Nick Abreu. Jordan Bell’s photo was done by Carly Anders.