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, Couple Skills, and more. His books combined have sold more than four million copies. 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, California. She has a background in neuroimaging research at Yale, the University of California, Berkeley, and the Veteran’s Administration, as well as clinical training at community clinics and hospitals in the San Francisco Bay Area, with a focus on treatment for trauma. The goal of her work both in her research and in her practice is to understand processes at the core of human suffering to help craft individualized and culturally responsive treatments for groups and individuals. When not thinking or writing about the human brain, she can be found rock climbing, writing science fiction, and playing ultimate frisbee. She lives with her husband and two baby lemon trees in Berkeley.
Patricia E. Zurita Ona, PsyD, is a licensed clinical psychologist in California. Her clinical work started first as a school psychologist, and then as a clinical psychologist. She has significant experience working with children, adolescents, and adults with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), trauma, anxiety, and emotion dysregulation problems. Known as "Dr. Z," she is founder of the East Bay Behavior Therapy Center, a boutique therapy practice where she runs an intensive outpatient program integrating acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and exposure and response prevention (ERP) to support clients getting stuck from obsessions to start living a better life based on their values.