True to You

A Therapist's Guide to Stop Pleasing Others and Start Being Yourself

By: Kathleen Smith

Narrated by: Christine Lakin

A Guide to the Theory and Practice of Creating Authentic Relationships

When’s the last time you felt as composed as you portray to your boss, family and friends? If there’s a discord between the two, you’re not alone. Humans are master pretenders—we often seem stronger, calmer and more mature than we really are, while the truth is we’re full of doubts and self-criticism that pushes us to borrow reassurance from friends, beliefs from strangers on the internet, or attention that, in the moment, makes us feel successful, but leaves us totally hollow and burnt out.

True to You is a relatable self-help guide for people who want to learn to live less focused on others’ reactions and more confidently by their own principles. Readers will learn how to:

· Interrupt relationship patterns that keep you stuck.
· Rely less on praise and approval from others.
· Develop a solid sense of self in anxious times.
· Build more authentic and rewarding relationships.

Dr. Smith uses examples from the lives of her therapy clients to explain how we borrow confidence, calmness, and beliefs from our relationships and offers actionable steps and exercises for building a life with your own best-thinking. With a healthy dose of humor, she unpacks the science of our social nature, explaining why we try so hard to be what others want us to be and how we can start living from the inside out. By learning how to be more responsible for yourself, rather than over-responsible for everyone else, you can find the freedom to develop richer relationships, pursue what’s important to you, and feel steadier in this very anxious world.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press Essentials.

A relatable blueprint for relationship challenges

I was pleasantly surprised how Dr. Smith teaches so many useful concepts that will likely be useful to anyone motivated to understand their relationships better and the role anxiety plays.
I found myself picking up lots of useful nuggets to apply in my own life despite being a student of Bowen family systems theory for many years now.
Her writing style incorporates briefly teaching concepts with short, real life, relatable stories, weaving a tapestry of a roadmap that can guide your thinking while navigating a wide variety of relationships.

Great narrator!

Practical, helpful and timely information to help us better think through some of today’s most anxious moments.

Full of practical wisdom!

This is the most practical book on differentiation I have read. The questions posed gave me more clarity on how I can better self-define while remaining connected to others. A must for anyone seeking to apply Bowen theory in very digestible ways.

Growing a stronger sense of self

An outstanding resource for therapists and individuals interested in growing a stronger sense of self, or helping others do so. This book deserves to be in the library of every therapist who works with individuals, couples and families.