About Becoming Women
Becoming Women is a newsletter about women’s inner lives — and the world that shapes them.
I’m Sarah Emmerson and I’m a Counselling Psychologist and I write about the struggles and difficulties I see in my practice and the larger forces that shape who we are and who get to be as women. So much of what I see in the women I support and what I notice for myself as a woman, a mother, a friend, a partner is how strongly connected our distress is to the cultural messages women absorb about who they should be, how they should cope, what they should want and what they are allowed to be.
I explore themes that are meant to be universal but also deeply personal and always try to connect what I see in therapy or in myself to broader ideas, research and frameworks that might help us make sense of what is going on. So many of the issues I see women struggling with boil down to
feeling overwhelmed and burned out
putting our needs last (if we even know what they are)
dismissing and diminishing our emotional realities
feeling ashamed, silenced, judged by those around us
I write about what modern womanhood asks of women and always try to question the things we might take for granted. I want you to know, you who finds herself here, that what you are experiencing is normal, understandable and that you are not alone.
About me
I’m a HCPC-registered Counselling Psychologist and co-founder of Talking Women, a psychology practice specialising in women’s mental health.
I previously worked in NHS trauma and maternal mental health services and now work privately with women navigating pregnancy and motherhood, anxiety, trauma, identity changes, menopause, relationships, and burnout.
