Life Skills | Self-Connection | Ongoing Support
Curated Resources for Women’s wellbeing
A thoughtfully curated collection of books, tools, and ideas that inform my practice and inspire personal growth.
Want a place to start? Download my Curated Reading Guide — the books I have recommended most often in 2025.
Read | Reflect | Grow
The Library
As a counsellor and psychotherapist with over a decade of experience, I now focus on working with women who are high functioning and capable—yet often carrying more than they show.
My training includes Internal Family Systems, Brainspotting, The Richards Trauma Process (TRTP), and Metabolic Therapies—approaches that reach beneath the surface and support real integration.
Beyond qualifications, I bring presence, depth, and lived experience. I know the weight of expectations and what it’s like to keep going because others rely on you, even when something inside doesn’t feel right. I’ve learned to navigate these patterns in my own life and developed the skills to help other women do the same.
This is a space for reflection, steady support, and meaningful change. Here, you don’t have to hold it all together.
The Body Keeps the Score - Bessel van der Kolk
Van der Kolk’s groundbreaking work fundamentally changed how we understand trauma and its impact on the body and brain. Drawing on decades of clinical experience and research, he demonstrates that trauma isn’t just stored in our memories it lives in our nervous system, our posture, our breathing, and our capacity for connection. What makes this book essential reading is how it bridges neuroscience with compassionate, practical approaches to healing. Van der Kolk explores a range of therapeutic interventions, from EMDR and neurofeedback to yoga and theatre, showing that recovery requires engaging the whole person, not just the thinking mind.
For counsellors and psychotherapists, this book deepens our understanding of why traditional talk therapy alone may not be enough for trauma survivors. For clients, it offers validation and hope: your body’s responses make sense, and healing is possible. Whether you’re a clinician working with complex trauma or someone seeking to understand your own nervous system, this is a must-read that will shift how you see the mind-body connection.
Atlas of the Heart - Brené Brown
Brené Brown has given us something rare: a comprehensive, accessible map of human emotion. Atlas of the Heart explores 87 emotions and experiences, offering language for feelings we’ve all had but struggled to name. Brown argues, and I wholeheartedly agree, that we can’t heal what we can’t articulate. By expanding our emotional vocabulary, we gain clarity, self-compassion, and the ability to communicate more authentically in our relationships. Each chapter unpacks a cluster of related emotions with research, personal stories, and Brown’s trademark warmth and humour.
This book is invaluable for anyone doing inner work, whether in therapy or on their own. For counsellors, it’s a brilliant resource to help clients move beyond “I feel bad” into the nuance of shame, disappointment, or resentment. For women navigating anxiety, self-doubt, or relational challenges, it offers a toolkit for understanding yourself and expressing what you truly need. It’s the kind of book you’ll return to again and again, each time discovering something new about your emotional landscape.
No Bad Parts - Richard Schwartz
Richard Schwartz, the founder of Internal Family Systems (IFS), offers a compassionate and transformative framework for understanding our inner world. No Bad Parts introduces the idea that we all have different “parts”, the inner critic, the people-pleaser, the protector, and that none of these parts are inherently bad. They developed to help us survive, even when their strategies no longer serve us. Schwartz guides readers towards Self-leadership: a calm, curious, compassionate presence that can listen to and heal these parts, rather than fighting or silencing them.
What I love most about this book is its gentleness and practicality. Schwartz doesn’t pathologise or overcomplicate; instead, he offers a deeply respectful model of healing that honours our inner complexity. For therapists, it’s an accessible introduction to IFS that you can apply immediately in your practice. For clients, it’s a revelation, offering a new way to relate to your anxiety, your anger, your shame, without judgement. If you’ve ever felt at war with yourself, this book will help you find peace from the inside out.
Want the full list?
The three books above are just the beginning. I’ve curated a comprehensive booklist covering women’s identity and relationships, trauma and emotional wellbeing, metabolism and mental health, and women’s health through midlife.
Download my complete curated booklist—with 15+ recommended reads, purchase links, and my personal notes on why each book matters and who it’s for.
What’s included in the full booklist:
- Women, Identity & Relationships: Books on anger, boundaries, narcissistic families, and authentic living
- Trauma & Emotional Wellbeing: Insights on depression, anxiety, and the myth of “normal”
- Metabolism & Mental Health: The groundbreaking connection between food, blood sugar, and brain function
- Women’s Health & Midlife: Practical guides for hormonal health, fasting, and menopause
Therapy | Life | Deeper Questions | Insight
Pondering with Sallyanne
Inner Work, Real Life
Not all struggles look like crisis. This blog is for women who want more than coping — who are ready for inner work that’s real, deep, and grounded in everyday life.
Flawed and Still Worthy
There’s a quiet revolution happening in how we think about self-esteem. It’s not about becoming better. It’s not about fixing yourself or achieving enough to finally deserve respect. It’s about seeing yourself clearly, flaws and all, and still choosing to hold yourself in high regard.
Naming the Invisible Work
Invisible labour is real — and heavy. This post explores the emotional and mental load many women carry daily, and why naming it is the first step to real change.