Meg Josephson is a licensed psychotherapist who specializes in trauma-informed care. She is also a certified meditation teacher through the Nalanda Institute.

What’s the big idea?

People-pleasing is not a personality trait. It is part of the trauma response known as fawning. Although it can be a useful mechanism at times, existing in a state of fawning leads to exhaustion and losing touch with oneself: who you are, what you want, and what you need. To heal, it is necessary to learn how to focus less on what other people think for the sake of rediscovering who you are.

Below, Josephson shares five key insights from her new book, Are You Mad at Me?: How to Stop Focusing on What Others Think and Start Living for You. Listen to the audio version—read by the author herself—below, or in the N

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