Do you sometimes struggle to state what you want (or don't want)? Do tricky conversations go wrong? Does it at times seem easier to suffer in silence?

This book has the solutions you need. Despite recent advances in gender equality in education, the workplace and the home, in practice many women and girls still find it a challenge to speak up and be heard. Assertiveness – defined by psychologist and assertiveness trainer Anne Dickson as clear, honest and direct communication – is an art, which can be learned.

Instead of being governed by the desire to please – the Compassion Trap – assertiveness teaches us to take charge of our own feelings and behaviour, without blaming others.

In her pioneering handbook, now fully updated to mark its 40th anniversary, Dickson draws on her long experience of in-person training to give all women the practical skills and tools we need to assert what we feel and want, manage difficult conversations, avoid being sidetracked by culturally learned behaviours, say 'No', and find self-acceptance.