I don't know if I'm really the target audience for this book. When I read the description I honestly didn't feel like it was speaking to me. However, there was something in me that told me to read it and I'm so glad I did. True to You is confidence, authenticity, and building relationships without being hamstrung by doubt. As I read, I began to recognize self-sabotaging behaviors that I engage in and started to identify people-pleasing habits that I really want to drop. I have already started to approach things in a new way and while I can't say I've found huge changes as a result, I do feel more centered and secure. This book has started me on a journey to authenticity that I didn't know I needed.

This was a great read! I don’t usually go for self help type books. I don’t think I’ve read one in over a year but this one caught my interest and I’m really glad I got a chance to read it! This book made so many great points that are great and easy to implement in every day life! Definitely recommend reading this one!

This was an engaging and insightful book. As a people pleaser this book was such a good read and extremely insightful. I will be grabbing a physical copy to keep on my shelf for reference

I think this would have made a better essay than a book. I found that it was quite repetitive and while I found the overall message interesting. It needed to be shorter because the message was the same the entire time. Therapy helps!

This book gave some great tips on how to work, live, and collaborate with others while still staying “True to You.” I was able to take some of the tips and hopefully have better relationships with those around me.

It does mention therapy a lot so if you don’t like thst type of book it might not be for you.

One of the rare self-help books that actually provides real, useful advice for specific things you can do to set boundaries and exert more control over your own life instead of turning it over to pleasing other people.

TRUE TO YOU by Kathleen Smith Is subtitled "A Therapist's Guide to Stop Pleasing Others and Start Being Yourself." Smith is a is a licensed therapist, a mental health writer, and an associate faculty member of the Bowen Center for the Study of the Family. She explains and advocates for the Bowen Theory in her new book and does suggest a few other books which explore this theory. While there are some interesting ideas (e.g., every family is an emotional ecosystem and the person who is the most accommodating carries the most anxiety), it is disappointing that the references to research are rather limited (only about three percent of the text). Smith also includes a half dozen pages of "growing" questions (e.g., How do I over-function or under-function at work when I am distressed? OR How can I make time to develop my own thinking or let my mind wander?) to help readers think about "how to be more of a self in [their] relationships and challenges."

For readers curious about ways to establish boundaries and to develop new relationship patterns, Core Concepts and Diagrams are here
https://www.thebowencenter.org/core-concepts-diagrams

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was a great self help book and I will definitely be recommending it to others.

𝐀𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞, 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐧𝐞’𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝑻𝒓𝒖𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐃𝐫. 𝐒𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫; 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐃𝐫. 𝐒𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 (𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡) 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲! 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫-𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐫, 𝐈 𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝, 𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞.

𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝑜 𝒦𝒶𝓉𝒽𝓁𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝒮𝓂𝒾𝓉𝒽, 𝑀𝒶𝒸𝓂𝒾𝓁𝓁𝒶𝓃 𝒜𝓊𝒹𝒾𝑜, 𝒮𝓉. 𝑀𝒶𝓇𝓉𝒾𝓃'𝓈 𝒫𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈, & 𝒩𝑒𝓉𝒢𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓎 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒜𝑅𝒞! 𝒜𝓁𝓁 𝑜𝓅𝒾𝓃𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝑜𝓌𝓃.

I hope that all of you can find gem in this self-help guide about how to live less focused on others’ reactions and more confidently by your own rules and principles. This means to be true to yourself, in the guidance of the Truth.

This book is so incredible! As a therapist, once in a while I will dip my toes into self help books. This really is amazing & easy to digest for those looking to do self healing.

This is based off internal family systems and is quickly becoming a popular therapy practice model. Would recommend to clients, friends and colleagues.

Readers will be able to decide if this book is for them just as soon as the title is read. Anyone who feels that they may indeed people please too much (and perhaps to their own detriment) will find much of value here.

Readers get to learn about Bowen family theory and will understand why people pleasing is so prevalent and, equally, why it may be important to not completely succumb. One thing that I liked in this book was that points are made through the use of vignettes of clients engaged in the therapeutic process. The book is written in a very easy to understand way and will, I think, be welcomed by its target audience.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press-St. Martin’s Essentials for this title. All opinions are my own.

Although the writing style of this book didn't connect with me as much as I hoped, I know its themes will resonate with a lot of readers. There were definitely a few nuggets and takeaways throughout. Thanks to St. Martin's Press for e-mailing me an advanced copy of this book - pub day is today!

Excellent read and guide to how to set boundaries and stop being a people pleaser. SO well written so interesting a book I will be recommending.#netgalley#truetoyou

Boy was this book made for me and probably a lot of other women who find themselves putting others before themselves.
"It's incredibly rewarding to live a life where people know what we're about. A lif where we look forward to getting to know ourselves."
True to you is just that...a book about how you can find out what you want, what you need, who you are or who you want to be, and own it. So many people find themselves being different people to each friend depending on what they think the person wants. You may be giving that person the version of you that they want but in the end your not being honest or fair to yourself.
Many years ago I made a promise to myself to be the silly, wild, crazy, and sometimes inappropriate person I am. If people don't like these things then we probably shouldn't be friends. This way everyone who I surround myself with is a true friend. I can be myself and my friends can be themselves.
True to You will get you thinking and learning how to put yourself first which for a lot of women is difficult.

We need relationships but we need to be individuals too. Smith uses systems thinking to see the whole of relationship issues. The first part of the book looks at relationships and how we try to keep things calm by sacrificing our selves. I like that she give examples, stories that are composites of her therapy clients. The second part of the book deals with growing into the mature state of directing our selves as individuals. I really appreciate the review of chapter main points at each chapter end as well as practical exercises to personally investigate that chapter teaching.

As a people pleaser much of my life, I learned important ideas and strategies from this book. Investigating the family relationship systems was important to me as it revealed the basis for my actions. I like the insights into how we lose self and then what it looks like to act as an individual. I appreciate learning how to respect the people with whom I have relationships yet maintain my own individual person.

This is a book containing a great deal of actionable ideas and strategies. It is a good one to work through and there is lots of work to do. Reading and discussing it with a trusted friend may be the best was to incorporation the information into one's life.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

"True to You: A Therapist’s Guide to Stop Pleasing Others and Start Being Yourself” by Kathleen Smith, narrated by Christine Lakin, is a compelling audiobook exploring human relationships and self-identity. It’s packed with practical advice from Smith, a seasoned therapist, on breaking free from people-pleasing habits and building inner strength. Lakin’s engaging narration brings Smith’s insights to life, making complex ideas accessible and relatable. With its emphasis on authenticity and resilience, this audiobook is a valuable resource for anyone navigating personal growth and seeking more fulfilling relationships.

True to You by Kathleen Smith is witty, bracingly honest, deeply humane and piercingly insightful!
A very informative book that I absolutely enjoyed reading!

Thank You NetGalley and St. Martin's Essentials for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

I really enjoyed this book! I think it is a must read for overthinkers + people pleasers! I found myself highlighting a ton. The author writes in a very conversational way which I really liked. I'd recommend this to anyone even those who don't typically read non-fiction.

Very informative and easy to follow. As someone who is a constant people pleaser, this book can help establish the boundaries you need to live and happy, and successful life.