Meg Josephson + Ada Calhoun: Are You Mad At Me?

Join us for a launch event with beloved psychotherapist and author Meg Josephson, discussing her new book Are You Mad At Me? Joining Meg in conversation is New York Times bestselling author Ada Calhoun. This event will be hosted in the Strand Book Store's 3rd-floor Rare Book Room at 828 Broadway on 12th Street.

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ACCESSIBILITY:

Strand Book Store is an ADA compliant venue. The event space is accessible via elevator.

ASL interpretation is available for this event by request only. Please reach out to our events team at ZXZlbnRzIHwgc3RyYW5kYm9va3MgISBjb20= by July 24 to request.

For further information on accessibility in this space, or to make a request, please contact ZXZlbnRzIHwgc3RyYW5kYm9va3MgISBjb20=

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“If you struggle with that screensaver type of anxiety that’s always on…this book will feel like coming up for air. Read it and get free.” —Katherine Morgan Schafler, psychotherapist and author of The Perfectionist’s Guide to Losing Control.

"This book offers a cure for chronic people pleasing. If you’ve ever compromised your principles to gain another person’s approval, Meg Josephson is here to help with revealing insight and sage advice.” —Adam Grant

"Josephson’s lucid prose and smart mix of clinical expertise, personal disclosure, and pertinent case studies makes for a uniquely actionable resource…Recovering people pleasers will find plenty to chew on.” – PW

From psychotherapist and social media star Meg Josephson, a groundbreaking exploration of people-pleasing as an under-recognized but common trauma response, that also offers a compassionate and actionable path for healing.

Are you…

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

- Anxious, a perfectionist, or an overachiever?

- Always overextending yourself (and then resentful)?

- Someone who avoids conflict at all costs?

- Fearful of getting into trouble or being seen as “bad”?

- Silencing your needs for the comfort and happiness of everyone else?

- Prone to overexplain or over apologize?

- Eternally obsessing over why someone texted with a period instead of an exclamation point?

It’s time to stop surviving and start thriving. Meg Josephson, MSW, will tell you how. In Are You Mad at Me?, Josephson explodes the idea that people-pleasing is a personality trait. Instead, she illuminates how it’s actually a common trauma response (also known as “fawning”): an instinct often 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.

Meg weaves her own moving story, fascinating patient case studies, and thought-provoking exercises to show readers how to:

- Identify all the roles you might play—from peacekeeper to performer to caretaker to perfectionist to lone wolf to chameleon—that keep you far from yourself.

- Stop fearing your thoughts and emotions, even if they’re unpleasant.

- Rethink conflict and boundaries as an opening for deeper connection.

- Practice “leaning back” in relationships.

Photo credit: David Goddard

Meg Josephson, LCSW, is a licensed psychotherapist. In her private practice, she specializes in trauma-informed care through a compassion-focused lens. She holds a Master of Social Work from Columbia University, and is a certified meditation teacher through the Nalanda Institute. Meg also shares accessible insights via her social media platforms, reaching over five hundred thousand followers.

Photo credit: Jena Cumbo

Ada Calhoun is the New York Times–bestselling author of Crush: A Novel, hailed on the Today Show as the month's Best Romance and praised by the Washington Post for its "whirlwind of desire and possibility." Her memoir Also a Poet was named one of the best books of 2022 by The New York Times, NPR, and The Washington Post; and longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction. A review in the NYTBR called it “a big valentine to New York City past and present, and a contribution to literary scholarship, molten with soul." Past books include Why We Can't Sleep, Wedding Toasts I'll Never Give, and St. Marks is Dead.

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