Post-Diagnostic Support

There is no uniform way to think or feel about receiving a diagnosis of autism and or ADHD. Each person is unique and will have a different response to the diagnosis.

Findings from research studies, along with our clinical experience, suggest that some people find it beneficial to have post-diagnostic support. This can provide an opportunity to talk about themes including what the diagnosis means to them, how their strengths, preferences and traits may have influenced different aspects of life and to identify strategies that can help them do more of the things that are important to them.

In our clinical experience, some people prefer to access resources quite soon after receiving a diagnosis, whereas others choose to wait some months or longer.

There is no right or wrong time to have post-diagnostic support. There is also not one set way to do it.

At The Cavendish Clinic, we offer three approaches to post-diagnostic support – individual sessions with the person themselves, couples and family sessions, and in a group. Some people have one approach, and others choose two or three of these. At a free introductory consultation, we can share more information about each of these approaches and talk through which seems best for you as a starting point. 

People choose to have post-diagnostic support for a whole range of reasons. This means some people have fewer sessions, and others have more.

We usually suggest reviewing the usefulness of individual post-diagnostic support after 4 sessions, and of couples and family sessions after 6 sessions. We can also review these sooner.

The post-diagnostic support group has a set number of sessions.

Yes, absolutely. We see people who have received an autism and or ADHD diagnosis at other services, as well as people we have seen for an autism assessment.

Many of the people who we see for post-diagnostic support and psychological therapies have traits and or a diagnosis of autism and ADHD. As standard, we offer a formulation-based approach in our clinical work – this means we are able to adapt how we work, and take into account, the breadth of preferences, strengths and needs or difficulties, that people have.

Yes, of course, we welcome self-referrals. We also accept referrals from professionals, including clinicians working at other physical health or mental health services.

Family members or significant others can help you with the referral process if you would like, but we will need to have your written consent before we correspond with them.

Between them, clinicians at The Cavendish Clinic offer sessions between 8am - 9pm, Monday to Friday.  Not all clinicians are available every day.

We will ask what days and times suit you best for individual, and couples and family sessions, and accommodate your preferences whenever we can.

The post-diagnostic support groups take place on specific days. We share all dates several weeks in advance. 

We almost always offer sessions online, rather than in person. If you are unsure if this way of working will suit you, let us know and we can arrange a free introductory consultation so that you test out what this is like.

Some clinicians offer a very limited number of in person individual and couples and family sessions. You can check this with us.

The post-diagnostic support group sessions always take place online.

Individual, and couples and family, post-diagnostic support sessions are usually 60 minutes.

Sometimes, we may suggest that sessions for couples and families last a bit longer - but we will plan this in advance. There is an additional fee for sessions over 60 minutes.

The duration of the post-diagnostic support group for adults who have ADHD is 60 minutes, and the post-diagnostic support group for autistic adults is 2 hours.

The cost of post-diagnostic support sessions varies depending on whether you are having sessions individually, with a partner or family, or joining a post-diagnostic support group.

Information about fees is available here.

If you have any questions about the cost, you are welcome to contact us.

There is no charge for an introductory consultation of up to 60 minutes.

Payment for individual, and couples and family sessions is via a bank transfer on the day of each appointment.

Payment for all sessions of the post-diagnostic support groups is via a bank transfer seven days before the first session is scheduled to take place.

The clinician(s) you are seeing will send invoices to you outlining the fee and their bank details.

If someone else is paying the invoice on your behalf, we will need your written consent to correspond with them directly about invoices - or we will send invoices to you and ask you to share these with them.

Some clinicians at The Cavendish Clinic accept health insurance payment. This information is listed on each clinician’s profile.

If you arrange with a clinician that payment will be made via a health insurance, you will be asked to provide your membership number and a pre-authorisation code in advance of an assessment. This is so that we can confirm we have authorisation to offer you post-diagnostic support. It also means we can clarify if there are any stipulations we need to know about, such as if the insurance company states how many sessions can be offered.

Yes, what you talk about with our clinicians will be confidential. The only time that we would breach confidentiality is if you disclose information that makes us concerned that you, or someone else, are at serious risk. We will always aim to let you know about our concerns before we notify relevant parties, such as your GP or another health professional involved in your care.

We always highlight issues relating to confidentiality at the first session of post-diagnostic support groups.

The clinician(s) you are seeing will give you their email address and contact phone number. They will endeavour to reply to you between sessions as swiftly as they can. However, please note that your clinician and The Cavendish Clinic do not provide an emergency service. If you require urgent help or support between appointments, we recommend contacting your GP, emergency services via 999, Accident & Emergency, or crisis help lines (including The Samaritans and NHS Direct).

Please let us know if you need to rearrange or cancel an appointment. Our clinicians aim to be flexible and will offer an alternative date/time to meet.

We do not charge for sessions that have been cancelled more than 48 hours in advance. You may be charged if you cancel with less notice.

If you are unable to attend a post-diagnostic support group session, we do not offer a reimbursement, but one of the clinicians will aim to briefly meet you before the next session to share a summary of the focus and content of the session you missed.

Yes, at The Cavendish Clinic we offer a free 60 minute introductory consultation.

This is an opportunity to find out about the referral, talk through any questions you may have and share some information about who we are and how we work.

We are not entrepreneurial and there is no hard sell. At the end of the appointment, you do not have to decide whether to book post-diagnostic support with us. We will encourage you to take the time to think over what will suit you best, and you will be welcome to ask further questions afterwards. This is because one of the aims of the introductory consultation is for you to find out what it is like to talk to one of our clinicians, potentially about some things that have been more challenging or unsettling - some people find this easy, but many do not, so we think that having a chance to test this out is important and can be helpful.

Please note that the introductory consultation is not an in depth assessment.  We will not ask for extensive information about your current circumstances or past.

At the end of the consultation, if we think a different service would be better placed to help you, we will explain why this is and try to signpost you to colleagues.

At The Cavendish Clinic, we only offer a clinical service to people aged 18 and upwards.

If you would like a child or teenager in your family to be present at post-diagnostic support sessions, we recommend contacting our colleagues at the Effra Clinic who work with people under aged 18.

Please see here for more information: https://www.effraclinic.co.uk/

We run the groups from time to time. If you would like to join the waiting list, you are welcome to contact us for a free introductory consultation.