Steve Salerno is an American, conservative nonfiction author, essayist and educator who has written three books, including SHAM: How the Self-Help Movement Made America Helpless, a critique of the self-help movement, and Deadly Blessing, about the death of Price Daniel Jr., which became the TV movie Bed of Lies.
[2] In November 2005, Salerno appeared on a segment of Anderson Cooper's 360° to discuss the validity of the self-help industry.
In the book, Salerno argues that self-help in recent decades has done significant damage to the American social fabric.
[8][9] Salerno argues that damage principally to self-esteem-based education[10] and the fallout from the two polar schools of self-help thoughts, victimization and empowerment.
After the book's publication Salerno wrote essays on self-help's influence in politics[13] and medicine.