About the Author

---

Matthew McKay, PhD, is a professor at the Wright Institute in Berkeley, CA. He has authored and coauthored numerous books, including The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook, Self-Esteem, and Couple Skills, which have sold more than four million copies combined. He received his PhD in clinical psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology, and specializes in the cognitive behavioral treatment of anxiety and depression. Patrick Fanning is a professional writer in the mental health field, and founder of a men's support group in Northern California. He has authored and coauthored twelve self-help books, including Self-Esteem, Thoughts and Feelings, Couple Skills, and Mind and Emotions. Erica Pool, PsyD, earned her doctorate at the Wright Institute in Berkeley, CA; and has clinical and research experience at the University of California, Berkeley, and the VA Northern California Health Care System; and has consulted with mental health start-ups. The goal of her work is to understand processes at the core of human suffering to help craft individualized and culturally responsive treatments. Patricia E. Zurita Ona, PsyD, "Dr. Z," is a psychologist specializing in working with and creating compassionate, research-based, and actionable resources for overachievers and overthinkers to get them unstuck from worries, fears, anxieties, perfectionism, procrastination, obsessions, and ineffective "playing it safe" actions. She is founder of the East Bay Behavior Therapy Center--a boutique practice where she offers therapy and coaching services based on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and contextual behavioral science. She has been nominated as a fellow of the Association of Contextual Behavioral Science for her contributions to the applications of ACT to specific fear-based struggles.