Sally Agobiani
It has been a privilege to work with neurodivergent adults for over 35 years. My interest started with dyslexia when I was teaching in the prison system and this led me to qualify as a dyslexia tutor and diagnostic assessor. I worked at City College, Plymouth as the dyslexia co-ordinator and later at Plymouth University as a dyslexia assessor and a disability advisor. Alongside this, I set up ‘Optimus Dyslexia Assessment Services’ in 2007. I also completed an MSc in Developmental Conditions (autism, ADHD and SpLD) from the University of South Wales.
Whilst undertaking my MSc I published a paper on ADHD, dyslexia and self-esteem. From the beginning of my career I have been very aware of the profound impact neurodiverse conditions can have on so many aspects of a person’s life and my work on self-esteem deepened this awareness. I am also very interested in the day-to-day effects of a condition called aphantasia, the inability to visualise.
In 2019 I qualified as a counsellor and worked in this area for five years. In 2025 I chose to move from counselling into life coaching, drawn by its emphasis on being forward focused and goal orientated. It is wonderful to work alongside my clients as they come to understand and overcome obstacles and fulfil their potential.
Edward Agobiani
As an integrative counsellor, I work with clients to help reconnect them with a more authentic sense of themselves and their lives. Drawing on a range of therapeutic approaches, I support the awareness, understanding and expression of genuine, present-moment thoughts and feelings. In my experience, when someone feels secure enough to be fully themselves, that’s often when meaningful change begins to happen — even when it’s not expected.
Counselling offers a rare opportunity to be met with steady, open attention. It’s a process that supports our natural capacity for growth, encouraging us to let go of old patterns, beliefs or expectations that may no longer serve us. In doing so, we can begin to return to a more complete sense of ourselves — and of others — as being inherently valuable, and deserving of warmth, acceptance and respect.