A bit about me and how I got here

I started Wellness with Sally in 2017 because I’m passionate about healing collective and individual trauma, helping individuals to be in the best health possible, in body, mind and spirit. Before that, there was a lot of searching and healing on my own journey, which of course continues to this present day. Like many in my profession, I have had my own battles and inner demons to contend with, but what I have discovered on the way has only made me more passionate about the work that I do.

I have spent long periods of my life feeling very disembodied, and from being a child into a teenager living in London, and then into my 20s in the North of the UK, I developed a difficult relationship with my mind and body which showed up as periods of depression, and unhealthy coping habits. Both of which are very common. Like many children and young people, I didn’t have a toolkit of self-care, and I felt very unhappy and unsure of my direction, even with a supportive family and wonderful life opportunities. On a surface level everything was great as I moved through life, but underneath I had no real connection to my mind, body or emotions.

What I did have was academic intelligence, I have always loved to learn, so I threw myself into study for many years, after deciding to take Psychology at A-Level, followed by degree level, then masters level, then a doctorate, wondering why others seem to have it much easier and love themselves so much more than I did. Little did I know that this is a huge part of the journey - to recognise that all you need is within you. In my early 20s, having found enjoyment in fitness and movement, I connected with a regular yoga practice and began to find the slow steps towards a peaceful existence where I began to feel contentment exactly as I was. It was like a coming home, and in time it also became a way of being and a place I could slow down and get beyond the chit-chatter of my mind.

Over my decade of practice combined with my 12 years of study and practice in psychology, I began to understand that these two worlds - the world of somatic therapy and the depths of the exploration of the mind and body in yogic practices - and psychology, the scientific study of mind and behaviour - didn’t have to live separately after all. I began to see how both could be forces for good, in empowering others, in developing understanding and personal truth, in sharing knowledge and understanding, and in making the world a better place.

In 2016, the same year in which I completed my doctorate in Applied Educational Psychology, I trained as a yoga teacher, completing 200 hours of an Education in Yoga with Centered Yoga in Thailand. I have since completed many other yoga and movement qualifications (keep scrolling to the bottom to see these). I am also a children’s, family and SEND yoga teacher, having trained with Special Yoga.

So in 2017 I founded Wellness with Sally to offer a blended approach of mind-body therapies, as well as psychological consultation, for individuals, groups and schools. I am now also a qualified life coach. Nowadays I live and work on the edge of the Peak District with my partner, and I wholeheartedly love the countryside, regularly enjoying walks and wild swims.

My passion is supporting those who have experienced trauma, young people navigating emotional and mental health difficulties as well as women looking for help to improve their health, having gone through the difficult journey myself of coming off the contraceptive pill to live a life without synthetic hormones. Every day I commit to self-understanding, and reconnecting with my true self, and I believe that this, alongside positive mental and physical health, shouldn’t be a privilege but a way of being for everyone. I know that at the heart of meeting the many challenges which we as a society are faced with is the capacity of humans to heal and form relationships with each other, including overcoming trauma.

It is my greatest honour to walk alongside people in their journey and share what I have discovered through study, experience and years and years of practice.