I’M LOOKING FOR AN ADULT ADHD ASSESSMENT

Following your initial appointment, we will discuss our recommendations with you. Depending on what we learn, this might mean progressing to a comprehensive adult ADHD assessment. For some people, however, a different psychological assessment or another form of support may be more appropriate.

We want you to understand why we are recommending a particular pathway and what it is designed to help you understand. You are not simply placed onto a standard assessment package without first considering your individual circumstances.

ADHD stands for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. It is a neurodevelopmental condition that can affect attention, activity levels and impulse control.

ADHD can look very different from one person to another.

For adults, difficulties may include:

• Concentrating on tasks, particularly when they are repetitive or uninteresting
• Becoming intensely focused on things that are particularly interesting
• Procrastinating or finding it difficult to get started
• Managing time and deadlines
• Organising work and everyday responsibilities
• Forgetting appointments, commitments or where things have been put
• Starting tasks but struggling to complete them
• Feeling overwhelmed by everyday demands
• Restlessness or difficulty relaxing
• Interrupting or acting impulsively
• Managing frustration and emotions
• Difficulties at work, in relationships or at home

Experiencing some of these difficulties does not necessarily mean that you have ADHD. This is why a comprehensive assessment is important.

ADHD can be under-recognised in women and girls.

Some women develop effective coping strategies or learn to compensate for their difficulties. They may work particularly hard, become perfectionistic, over-prepare or rely heavily on routines and organisation to keep everything together.

This can mean that ADHD is not recognised until adulthood.

If you have spent years wondering why everyday tasks seem to require so much effort, an assessment can help you explore whether ADHD could be part of the explanation.

If, following your initial appointment, an ADHD assessment is recommended, this will involve exploring your experiences in greater depth.

A comprehensive adult ADHD assessment considers more than your current symptoms.

We will explore areas such as:

• Your current experiences – We will consider the difficulties you are experiencing now and how they affect your everyday life.
• Your childhood and development – ADHD-related difficulties begin during childhood, even when they were not recognised or diagnosed at the time. We will therefore explore your early development, childhood experiences and time at school.
• Education and employment – We will consider your experiences of education and work, including organisation, attention, planning, completing tasks and managing responsibilities.
• Relationships and everyday life – ADHD can affect more than work or education. We will consider the impact of your experiences on relationships, home life and everyday responsibilities.

As part of our ADHD assessment process, we may use QbCheck, a computer-based assessment that provides objective information about aspects of attention, impulsivity and activity.

QbCheck combines a computerised attention task with measurement of movement. This gives us additional information about how you respond to different demands during the assessment.

Importantly, QbCheck is not a stand-alone diagnostic test for ADHD. We use it alongside our clinical assessment, developmental history and other information to help build a fuller picture of your experiences.

We believe this combination of clinical expertise and objective assessment can be particularly helpful when considering whether ADHD is the most appropriate explanation for the difficulties you are experiencing.

We will also consider other psychological, developmental and contextual factors that may be contributing to your experiences. The aim is to develop a clear understanding of you, rather than simply identifying whether you meet a list of symptoms.

You don’t need to be certain.

In fact, uncertainty is one of the reasons why an initial face-to-face appointment can be so useful.

You may have read about ADHD online and recognised yourself in some of the descriptions. Perhaps someone close to you has suggested that you might have ADHD. Or perhaps you have simply reached a point where you want to understand why certain things have always felt difficult.

There are many possible explanations for difficulties with concentration, memory, organisation and emotional regulation.

Our role is to help you explore these carefully. Sometimes an assessment confirms ADHD. Sometimes it identifies another explanation. Sometimes there are several overlapping factors.

Whatever the outcome, having a clearer understanding of your experiences can be an important step forward.

Cura Psychology is based in Lichfield, Staffordshire, and provides psychological assessment and therapy services.

We welcome enquiries from Lichfield and surrounding areas, including Tamworth, Sutton Coldfield, Burton upon Trent, Solihull and Birmingham, as well as the wider West Midlands.

If you are looking for a private adult ADHD assessment in Lichfield or Staffordshire, we would be happy to talk with you about your circumstances and explain how our assessment pathway works.

You don’t have to work out the answer on your own.

If you are wondering whether ADHD could explain some of the difficulties you have experienced, we would be happy to talk with you.

Our first step is a face-to-face appointment, giving us the opportunity to understand your circumstances before recommending the most appropriate pathway.