ADHD Assessment Process
What to expect from your assessment.
If you’re considering an ADHD assessment, it can be helpful to understand how the process works. My approach is designed to be clear, structured, and supportive, so you know what to expect at each stage. This is a careful, step-by-step process focused on understanding your experiences in depth not a quick or checklist-based assessment, and aligned with recognised UK best-practice standards.
Start With a Free Consultation
Initial consultation (15 minutes)
The first step is a brief, no-obligation consultation. This gives you the opportunity to:
- Briefly discuss what has led you to consider an ADHD assessment
- Ask any questions about the process
- Understand how the assessment works
- Decide whether this feels like the right next step for you
Three Main Stages
If you decide to proceed, the assessment takes place in three main stages.
We explore your current difficulties, developmental and mental health history, and the reasons you are considering an ADHD assessment. Screening questionnaires are reviewed as part of this consultation.
If a full assessment appears appropriate, I will explain the next stage and send you a developmental questionnaire to complete, along with an observer questionnaire for someone who has known you since childhood, where available.
This information is reviewed before the full diagnostic assessment and helps build a fuller picture of your experiences across childhood.
By this stage, I would have reviewed the information gathered during screening, your developmental questionnaire, and the observer questionnaire where available.
The full diagnostic assessment includes a structured clinical interview using the DIVA-5 to explore:
- A detailed exploration of your experiences across both childhood and adulthood
- Understanding how patterns of attention, organisation, and emotional regulation have developed over time
- Consideration of how these difficulties affect your functioning across different areas of life, such as work, relationships, and day-to-day responsibilities
- Exploration of how these patterns present across different settings
I also consider whether other psychological, developmental or contextual factors may better explain, contribute to or occur alongside your difficulties.
Where appropriate, information from someone who knows you well may also be included to provide an additional perspective and support robust clinical understanding.
This multi-source approach helps ensure the assessment is thorough, accurate, and clinically meaningful.
Following the assessment, we will meet for a feedback session. This includes:
- A clear and thoughtful explanation of the outcome
- Discussion of the clinical reasoning behind conclusions
- Time to ask questions and reflect on the findings
- Guidance on next steps and recommendations
You will also receive a detailed written report, including personalised recommendations tailored to your needs.
A Thoughtful and Individualised Process
Not everyone who seeks an ADHD assessment will receive a diagnosis.
Difficulties with attention, organisation, or emotional regulation can arise from a range of factors. The purpose of this process is to develop a careful, evidence-based understanding of your experiences so that the most appropriate support can be identified.
BOOK A CONSULTATION
Take the first step towards understanding your experiences.
Appointments are limited each month to ensure every client receives the depth of assessment they deserve.