About The Book
My Answer Is NO....
If That's Okay with You
NO is a very simple word—two letters, one syllable. Yet many women have a hard time saying it without feeling anxious or guilty. In My Answer Is NO.... If That's Okay with You, award-winning psychiatrist and author Dr. Nanette Gartrell takes a fresh look at why even the most powerful, accomplished, and successful women find it difficult to say NO and offers a revolutionary approach to setting limits without jeopardizing important relationships.
Today women are bombarded with messages like "put yourself first" and "stop being a people-pleaser." But this sort of advice is useless to women who value the caring and generosity that prompt them to say YES in the first place.
Through personal interviews with a diverse group of talented women, including CEOs, celebrities, physicians, and public officials, Dr. Gartrell shows that women's reluctance to say NO stems from valuable traits that they should embrace, such as empathy, sensitivity, and thoughtfulness.
With humor and wisdom, Dr. Gartrell reaffirms the psychological importance of compassion and feeling connected, which can often lead a woman to say YES rather than NO in order to preserve a relationship or spare someone's feelings. Through entertaining anecdotes and insights from her years of clinical practice, Dr. Gartrell teaches women to honor their best instincts while still maintaining boundaries. My Answer Is NO.... If That's Okay with You offers creative, practical ways to transform an automatic or reluctant YES into a healthy, respectful NO—and still feel good about it.
Table of Contents
chapter one
• women's ways of NOing (introduction)
chapter two
• there's NO place like home for the holidays (saying NO to parents)
chapter three
• getting to NO you (saying NO to dates and mates)
chapter four
• NOthing personal (saying NO to friends)
chapter five
• opportunity...NOts (when saying NO at work doesn't work for you)
chapter six
• no-nonsense NOs (saying NO at work)
chapter seven
• saying NO when the president calls (saying NO in public service)
chapter eight
• NOblesse oblige (saying NO in the community)
chapter nine
• NOt on your life! (saying NO to assault and harassment)
chapter ten
• Doctor, NO (saying NO to your shrink or doctor)
chapter eleven
• NOble intentions (saying NO as a caregiver)
chapter twelve
• heavens NO! (saying NO to the dead and dying)
a final note
acknowledgments
