Adult ADHD
Our team at The Cavendish Clinic has many years of experience of working with people who have neurodiverse traits and diagnoses, including ADHD, in a range of community and hospital settings, and specialist (autism and ADHD) services.
Some of our clinicians have been involved in doing ADHD assessments with adults living across England, and who have varied strengths, preferences, needs and difficulties, alongside co-occurring physical health and mental health conditions.
We have all offered different types of post-diagnostic support - including individual sessions with the person themselves, meeting with couples and families where one or more people have neurodiverse traits or a diagnosis, and facilitating groups.
Adapting psychological therapies to make these more accessible and acceptable for adults who have ADHD, has been a mainstay component of our clinical roles in mental health, physical health and specialist services.
We have regularly provided psychological therapies to:
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treat co-occurring mental health conditions, including low mood and depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder
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offer a supportive space people can use to talk about the impact of physical health conditions
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identify extra ways of managing impactful symptoms, and enhancing emotional wellbeing and quality of life
Adult ADHD assessment
Most of our clinicians are trained to assess ADHD.
However, we have deliberately decided to not offer adult ADHD assessments at The Cavendish Clinic. This is because if someone is diagnosed with ADHD, it may be clinically beneficial for them to have a trial of medication. None of our nurses are non-medical prescribers. This means that if we make a diagnosis of ADHD, we cannot initiate treatment or arrange a shared care agreement with a GP (who would then potentially have responsibility for ongoing prescribing of medication). So, instead, we would recommend a further appointment with a consultant psychiatrist at another service.
We do not want people to pay for more appointments than they need.
If you would like an assessment of ADHD for adults, we recommend our clinician colleagues at the Effra Clinic and the Craig Clinic.
There is more information about these services here:
https://www.effraclinic.co.uk/
Please note the Effra Clinic offers a lifespan service, including ADHD assessments for people under aged 18.
ADHD post-diagnostic support
Some people find post-diagnostic support useful.
However, what this ideally comprises, and how it is delivered (such as individually or in groups, with one person or with a couple or family), differs between people. We appreciate that not everyone wants or needs the same type of post-diagnostic support.
So, we have three different approaches to this:
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Individual sessions with the person themselves
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Sessions with couples and families, when at least one person has neurodiverse traits or a diagnosis
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A group for adults who have recently been diagnosed with ADHD
Working with couples and families
When someone receives a diagnosis of ADHD, each person within a relationship and family unit can have similar and different thoughts and emotions about this.
At The Cavendish Clinic, most of our team has completed formal postgraduate therapy training in working with couples and families. We have found that many people within a couple or family benefit from having a supportive space to talk about what an ADHD diagnosis means to them (individually and collectively) and how this may influence communication, relationships, activities and day-to-day life.
We offer sessions to couples and families to talk through issues that are relevant to each person, with emphasis on strengthening relationships.
Psychological therapy with adults who have ADHD
We all have substantial training, skills and experience of offering evidence-based psychological therapies to adults who have traits or a diagnosis of ADHD, focusing on core, co-occurring symptoms or conditions, and their impact.
As standard, we offer a formulation-based approach - this means we take the time to develop a shared understanding of factors that can increase vulnerability for co-occurring symptoms developing and persisting. We use the formulation to guide our decision-making about which approaches may be most beneficial for addressing therapy goals and helping people to have improved emotional wellbeing and quality of life.
Testimonials
You have both been incredibly kind and nothing has ever seemed too much trouble. The information, guidance and signposting to more sources of support will be invaluable.
It was a real pleasure to talk to people who really understood the complexity and subtlety of my son’s autism...it was great to see how you got beneath the surface to get the real story from him. You were kind, empathetic, encouraging and generous.
Very pleased that we were able to take advantage of their skills to assist [our son] in getting the diagnosis and help that he needs.
This was the best interaction I’ve ever had with professionals, they were super supportive and consistently made sure I was comfortable, and really took the time to understand me and my needs.
Kindness, Compassion, Non-judgemental, Ethical, Collaborative