Brought to you by Penguin.

Are you constantly worried about what people think of you? Psychotherapist Meg Josephson explores the common survival instinct fawning and offers explanations, comfort and solutions. If you ever:

Leave social situations overthinking something you’ve said
Overlook your own boundaries to make other people happy
Struggle to say what you really want – even to yourself

You might be fawning.

In Are You Mad at Me? Meg challenges the idea that people-pleasing is a personality trait, exposing it to be an instinct learned in childhood to become more appealing to a perceived threat in order to feel safe. Yet many people are stuck in this way of being for their whole lives.

Weaving her own moving story with case studies and thought-provoking exercises, Meg will show you how to identify your needs, rethink conflict and build stronger connections: empowering you to stop focusing on what others think and start living for you.

'A cure for chronic people-pleasing' Adam Grant, author of THINK AGAIN

'This book will feel like coming up for air. Read it and get free' Katherine Morgan Schafler, author of THE PERFECTIONIST'S GUIDE TO LOSING CONTROL

'I can count on one hand the books that have settles my nervous system within the first three pages of reading. It's so rare to be able to say: I needed this book, me too, thank you.' Holly Whitaker, author of QUIT LIKE A WOMAN

© Meg Josephson 2025 (P) Simon and Schuster LLC 2025