Author, Expert & Speaker on
Aphantasia and Invisible Cognitive Differences
Available for keynote speaking, podcast interviews, media comment, and expert features.
The UK's Leading Voice on Aphantasia
Sassy Smith is a trainer, author, and speaker widely recognised as the UK's leading voice on aphantasia and invisible cognitive differences. She is the founder of Aphantasia Academy Ltd and the creator of the Aphantasia Therapist Training programme — the only CPD-accredited specialist training of its kind in the world.
Sassy lives with multisensory aphantasia, SDAM, anendophasia, anauralia, and alexithymia. Her dual perspective as both a specialist trainer and a person with lived experience of all five differences gives her a distinctive and deeply credible voice on a subject that is increasingly reaching mainstream audiences.
Her work has been featured in the Daily Mail Good Health section, BBC Radio Solent, Happiful magazine, and a range of professional and consumer podcasts. She speaks at professional events and conferences, most recently addressing the EMCC UK — the European Mentoring and Coaching Council. Her book, Unseen Minds: A Therapist's Guide to Multisensory Aphantasia and Invisible Cognitive Differences, was published in 2026.
With over 30 years of experience across public and private sectors and a reputation for making complex neuroscience accessible and immediately applicable, Sassy is a compelling, warm, and authoritative guest.
Speaking Topics
Sassy speaks to therapists, coaches, mental health professionals, corporate wellbeing teams, educators, and general audiences. Each talk is tailored to the audience and can be adapted for keynote, workshop, panel, or media format.
The Therapy Gap: 285,000 People Your Training Didn't Prepare You For
An evidence-based exploration of the cognitive differences — aphantasia, SDAM, alexithymia, anendophasia, and anauralia — that affect 1 in 20 therapy clients and remain almost entirely absent from professional training. This talk challenges assumptions about how minds work and offers immediate, practical adaptations any practitioner can use.
CPD events · therapy conferences · training daysUnseen Minds: What It Means to Live Without a Mind's Eye
A personal and professional exploration of multisensory aphantasia and its psychological impact. Drawing on lived experience and current neuroscience research, this talk explores what it means to navigate a world built for visual thinkers when you have no inner imagery, no autobiographical memory replay, and no inner voice.
General audiences · wellbeing events · neurodiversity conferences · mediaThe Invisible Client: Neurodiversity, Cognitive Difference, and the Future of Mental Health Practice
A forward-looking talk on what inclusive, accessible therapy and coaching looks like when it accounts for the full diversity of human minds. This talk draws on the ADHD parallel — examining how a specialism that was once invisible is now mainstream — and applies that lens to aphantasia and associated differences.
Professional development events · leadership forums · corporate wellbeingThe 1 in 100,000 Advantage: How Specialising in Cognitive Differences Transforms a Therapy Practice
A practical and commercially minded talk for therapists and coaches working in a saturated market. Explores the business case for specialising in aphantasia and invisible cognitive differences, with data on market size, client demand, and the emerging competitive landscape.
Private practice conferences · business of therapy events · coaching professional bodiesFormats Available
- Keynote (30–60 minutes)
- Workshop or training day (half or full day)
- Panel participation
- Podcast guest (30–90 minutes)
- Expert comment & media interview
Press & Media
National and specialist press coverage of Sassy's work on aphantasia and invisible cognitive differences.
Daily Mail — Good Health
Why you can't picture your childhood or loved ones' faces
A two-page feature in the Daily Mail's Good Health section exploring what it means to live without a mind's eye. The piece drew on Sassy's personal experience of aphantasia and SDAM, her work training therapists, and the growing body of neuroscience research on invisible cognitive differences.
Read the ArticleRadio · One-hour interview
Aphantasia, mental health, and everyday life
Sassy joined Lucy Ambache's Friday show for BBC Radio Solent as a studio guest for a one-hour programme — covering her personal discovery, the development of the Aphantasia Academy, and what practitioners can do differently for clients with invisible cognitive differences.
Magazine · May 2026
Health section feature — Coming soon
A 500-word piece in the health section of Take a Break magazine, reaching a broad general readership with accessible coverage of aphantasia and invisible cognitive differences.
Coming SoonMagazine · May 2020
My story about insomnia
A two-page feature exploring Sassy's experience of insomnia and the role cognitive differences played in her mental health journey. Originally published in print and now available in full online.
Read ArticleSpeaking · 2025 Keynote
Aphantasia and cognitive diversity in coaching practice
Sassy addressed the Psychological Coaching SIG of the EMCC UK — the European Mentoring and Coaching Council — on the implications of invisible cognitive differences for coaching relationships and professional development.
Podcast Appearances
Conversations about aphantasia, invisible cognitive differences, and what they mean for therapy, coaching, and everyday life.
It's Not That Deep with Lucy Wood and Adrienne Kirk
Living without mental imagery — and why it changes everything about mental health support
Sassy joined Lucy and Adrienne to talk about what it means to live without mental imagery, why so many people sit in therapy rooms feeling quietly broken, and how understanding aphantasia changes everything about the way we approach mental health support.
My Soul Life with Susan Scollen
The World of Aphantasia with Sassy Smith
Episode 180
A wide-ranging conversation about what aphantasia is, how Sassy discovered she had it, and what it means for people who have spent years feeling like their mind works differently to everyone else's.
COACH — The Professional Coaching Podcast
Unseen Landscapes: Coaching Through Aphantasia
Exploring what it means to coach clients who have no mental imagery, and how coaches can adapt their practice to be genuinely inclusive of cognitive differences.
Redefining Wellbeing with Steph Lee
Neurodiversity in the Workplace
A conversation about how aphantasia and associated cognitive differences show up in professional environments and what employers, coaches, and wellbeing leads can do to support people who think differently.
Stay Sane With Jane
Did you know that some people aren't able to visualise?
Episode 23
An accessible and warmly conversational episode exploring the basics of aphantasia for a general audience — what it is, how common it is, and why so few people have heard of it.
The Be Ruthless Show
Visualise This with Sassy Smith
Episode 229
Sassy joins The Be Ruthless Show to challenge the visualisation-heavy world of personal development and explore what growth, goal-setting, and success looks like for minds that don't think in pictures.
On Screen
Watch Sassy in conversation about aphantasia, coaching, and the invisible differences that change everything.
Video Interview
A Natter That Matters with Vivienne Joy
Coach trainer and business mentor Vivienne Joy interviews Sassy about aphantasia, coaching, and what it means to think differently.
WatchShe was a natural. Exactly the kind of guest we love to have.
BBC Radio Solent
Book Sassy for Your Podcast, Event, or Publication
If you are looking for an expert guest, speaker, or commentator on aphantasia, neurodiversity, invisible cognitive differences, or the intersection of neuroscience and mental health practice, Sassy would love to hear from you.
She is experienced working across a range of formats — from long-form podcast conversations and keynote presentations to short expert comment for print and online features. She is consistently described as warm, knowledgeable, and immediately accessible on what can be a complex topic.
To make an enquiry:
Please include a brief description of your event or publication, your audience, and your ideal format. Sassy aims to respond to all media enquiries within 48 hours.
