Brought to you by Penguin.

Are you constantly worried about what people think of you, if they like you, if they’re mad at you?

This book will help you understand why. We’ve heard of fight, flight or freeze. Psychotherapist Meg Josephson reveals a fourth common yet overlooked trauma response: ‘fawning’, or people-pleasing. 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
'It’s so rare to be able to say: I needed this book, me too, thank you' Holly Whitaker
'This book will feel like coming up for air. Read it and get free' Katherine Morgan Schafler

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