Guilt Free - by Jennifer Reid (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

"A roadmap to help you overcome the guilt you've been socialized to feel when you put yourself first."--Katy Milkman, PhD, author of How to Change

What would life look like without the constant, crushing weight of guilt?

Women today are living with so much guilt. Guilt for working too much. Guilt for not working enough. Guilt for saying no, for saying yes, for taking a break, for asking for help. This emotion infiltrates every role we occupy--mother, partner, daughter, friend, employee, caregiver--and robs us of our capacity for joy and self-worth.

Enough is enough. Guilt Free is the revelatory, compassionate, and deeply practical roadmap every woman needs to break free from the impossible standards that shape our daily lives. Drawing on the latest research on emotion and social conditioning, as well as years of clinical work with high achieving but emotionally exhausted women, psychiatrist Dr. Jennifer Reid reveals how guilt becomes "sticky," why women are especially vulnerable to it, and--most importantly--how to loosen its grip for good.

With her SPEAK framework, a five-step path to healing grounded in the core tenets of psychotherapy, readers will be equipped to:

• Identify guilt triggers using the Guilt Equation
• Quiet guilty and critical thoughts
• Create sustainable boundaries around overexertion
• Replace guilt-driven decisions with clarity, self-trust, and empowerment

Guilt Free is your invitation to step out of the exhausting cycle of over-functioning, people-pleasing, and self-blame--and into a life shaped by your own desires, values, and brilliance.

Review Quotes

Praise for Guilt Free

"I see it every day--women weighed down by guilt they don't deserve. Dr. Jennifer Reid gets it. In Guilt Free, she offers a powerful, practical framework to help women rewrite the stories they've been told about who they should be. This book is a gift for anyone ready to stop running on empty."
--Kelly Casperson, MD, author of You Are Not Broken and The Menopause Moment

"With enormous clarity and generosity, Dr. Reid offers a way out of the silent burden of guilt, sharing practical, science-backed strategies to break free from unrealistic expectations and reclaim your personal power."
--Jessica Baum, LMHC, author of Anxiously Attached

"A compassionate, science-based guide to breaking free from guilt so you can make the life choices you truly want to make. Weaving together stories with evidence, Reid offers a roadmap to help you overcome the guilt you've been socialized to feel when you put yourself first."
--Katy Milkman, PhD, author of How to Change

"Through compassionate insights, practical tools, and stories that feel achingly familiar, Dr. Jennifer Reid guides us toward a life directed by agency, desire, and authentic choice. This book is a reminder--you are already enough, and you deserve to live without guilt as the measure of your worth."
--Ellen Vora, MD, psychiatrist and author of The Anatomy of Anxiety

About the Author

Jennifer Reid, MD is a psychiatrist, the creator and host of The Reflective Mind Podcast, and an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania, where she teaches the next generation of psychiatrists. She can also be found at A Mind of Her Own on Substack, where she focuses on empowering women to nurture a deep and lasting self-trust and sense of agency. She lives outside Philadelphia with her husband and two sons.