How to Unlearn People-Pleasing, Stop Self-Abandoning & Communicate Authentically with Psychotherapist Meg Josephson

Real Pod

Dear Media

Health & Fitness, So Much To Say, Athlete, Taylor Swift, Perfectionist, Eating Disorder, Friendship, Self Help, Self-improvement, Self Care, Athletes, Mental Health, Overcoming Eating Disorders, Body Neutrality, Sports, Education, Body Image, Recovery, Perfectionism, Real Talk

4.8 • 3.4K Ratings

🗓️ 19 November 2025

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Do you ever spiral, wondering if someone’s mad at you, replay conversations in your head, or feel anxious after setting a boundary? Then you need this episode. Victoria sits down with licensed psychotherapist and New York Times bestselling author Meg Josephson, whose new book Are You Mad at Me? is helping people-pleasers everywhere unlearn the patterns keeping them stuck. They dive into where people-pleasing comes from (usually childhood trauma we don’t even recognize), how to stop abandoning yourself to keep the peace, and what it takes to feel safe being authentically you. Meg shares practical, therapeutic tools to help you regulate your emotions, set boundaries without guilt, and stop overexplaining yourself to be understood using some of Vic’s recent personal experiences as a guide. Tune in to finally understand your people-pleasing tendencies and start rewriting the story.

Follow Meg Instagram: @megjosephson

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Transcript

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0:00.0	The following podcast is a dear media production.
0:04.4	Welcome to RealPod. It's your host, Victoria Garrick Brown, and this is the podcast where we hold nothing back.
0:11.4	Oh, so we're getting deep, huh? I really cried for 12 days straight.
0:15.9	Why do I want to be perfect? There's nothing in my life that is perfect.
0:19.2	Every week, I'll bring you honest, unfiltered,
0:22.0	and eye-opening conversations to help uncover the real in all of us. I crave the type of content
0:27.5	that you're talking about. I actually felt insecure. Oh my God, I'm not going to cry. Let me just
0:31.8	unload everything. New episodes every Wednesday. Leave those filters at the door because it's time to get real.
0:44.2	Hello, everybody, and welcome back to RealPod. I am so excited about this episode because I feel like if you enjoy the show, we probably relate on a lot of levels.
0:56.9	And you've heard me talk about the fact that I am a self-proclaimed people pleaser, a, as told
1:03.6	by my therapist, perfectionist, among many other traits that have me constantly feeling a little
1:10.3	exhausted, tired, and worn down because I am
1:12.7	trying to constantly be the best version of myself with others. And today's guest is truly
1:19.1	incredible, so thought-provoking and deeply informative to help those of you like me undo a lot
1:27.2	of our people please their habits so we can stop
1:29.5	self-abandoning and actually live a more authentic life where we feel regulated, empowered,
1:36.3	and safe being who we are. Our guest today, Meg Josephson, is a licensed psychotherapist
1:42.3	and clinical social worker, and she's the author of New York
1:46.0	Times bestselling book, Are You Mad at Me? That is the title of the book. Are You Mad at Me?
1:51.5	Which I think is incredible. So if you're constantly worried about what people are thinking of you,
1:55.7	if they like you, or if they're mad at you, you're anxious, the perfectionist and overachiever,
2:00.4	if you're always overextending yourself and then resentful you, you're anxious, the perfectionist, and overachiever, if you're always
	...

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