Adult ADHD Assessments

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Why an Adult Might Seek an ADHD Assessment

Many adults come to consider an ADHD assessment after years—sometimes decades—of feeling that everyday life takes more effort than it seems to for others. Often, people have developed strengths, coping strategies, and impressive resilience, yet still experience persistent challenges that don’t fully make sense through the lens of stress, personality, or motivation alone.

Adults may seek an assessment because they notice patterns such as:

• Chronic difficulties with attention, organisation, time management, or task initiation
• Feeling mentally restless, overwhelmed, or “always on,” even when physically still
• Struggling to sustain effort in areas that are not immediately engaging, despite strong intelligence or creativity
• Emotional intensity, rejection sensitivity, difficulty regulating stress and sleep
• Cycles of burnout, especially after periods of high masking or over-compensation
• A sense of underachievement or inconsistency that doesn’t reflect their true ability
• Increasing difficulties as life demands grow (e.g. career progression, parenting, caring roles)

For many adults, especially women, and those from marginalised backgrounds, ADHD may have been overlooked earlier in life due to stereotypes, masking, or co-occurring mental health presentations. Seeking an assessment is not about “finding something wrong,” but about gaining clarity, self-understanding, and access to appropriate support.

A neuro-affirmative ADHD assessment recognises ADHD as a natural variation in how brains process information, regulate attention, and engage with the world—while also acknowledging the very real challenges that can arise in environments not designed with neurodiversity in mind.

Our Understanding of the Nuances of Adult ADHD

We understand that adult ADHD assessment is complex and highly individual. ADHD does not look the same in everyone, and it rarely exists in isolation. Many adults present with overlapping experiences of anxiety, depression, trauma, autism, learning differences, or giftedness. Some have learned to mask their difficulties so effectively that their internal experience has gone unseen for years.

Our approach is grounded in the understanding that:

• ADHD traits can fluctuate depending on context, stress, interest, and support
• Coping strategies and masking can obscure symptoms, particularly in high-achieving adults
• Cultural, gendered, and systemic factors influence who is identified—and who is missed
• A thorough assessment must differentiate ADHD from, and consider its interaction with, other conditions
• Lived experience matters as much as observable behaviour

We take the time to listen carefully to your story, not just your symptoms. Your experiences are explored within the broader context of your life history, strengths, values, and current environment.

Our Gold-Standard Multi-Disciplinary Adult ADHD Assessment

We offer a comprehensive, gold-standard adult ADHD assessment grounded in best-practice clinical guidelines and delivered by an experienced multi-disciplinary team. This process is designed to be robust, respectful, and genuinely collaborative. Our ADHD assessments are multi-disciplinary, meaning they involve meeting directly with both a consultant psychiatrist and either a clinical psychologist or an occupational therapist with specialist skills in assessing and diagnosing ADHD.

Our assessment typically includes:

1. In-Depth Clinical Interview

A detailed developmental and psychosocial history is gathered, exploring childhood experiences, education, work, relationships, mental health, and current functioning. We focus on patterns over time, not just isolated difficulties.

2. Standardised ADHD Assessment Tools

We use validated, evidence-based rating scales and structured interviews to assess ADHD traits across attention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity, tailored for adult presentations.

3. Screening for Co-Occurring Conditions

We carefully assess for common co-occurring or alternative explanations, such as anxiety, depression, trauma-related responses, autism, or learning differences, ensuring diagnostic clarity and reducing the risk of misdiagnosis.

4. Analysis of additional sources of information and informant report

Where available, we will review school reports, previous medical/mental health assessments, and if possible, speak with someone who knows you well. There are various ways we can do this that will be discussed with you before your assessment.

5. Multi-Disciplinary Review

Your assessment findings are discussed within a multi-disciplinary review, allowing for multiple professional perspectives and clinical rigour in diagnostic decision-making.

6. Comprehensive Feedback and Report

You receive a clear, detailed written report outlining assessment findings, diagnostic conclusions (if criteria are met), and personalised recommendations. Feedback is provided in a collaborative session, with space for questions, reflection, and integration. People who receive an ADHD diagnosis will also receive a second letter confirming their diagnosis, which they can give to employers/universities that does not include confidential or personal information it is not necessary for them to know.

7. Strengths-Based, Practical Recommendations

Whether or not an ADHD diagnosis is made, we provide meaningful, tailored recommendations that may include psychoeducation, workplace or study accommodations, therapy, coaching, or (where appropriate) discussion of medication options.

A Supportive, Respectful Experience

We aim to make the assessment process feel safe, affirming, and empowering. Many adults describe assessment as a significant emotional experience—bringing relief, validation, grief, or a re-framing of their life story. We hold this process with care.

Seeking an ADHD assessment is not about labels—it’s about understanding yourself more fully and gaining access to support that aligns with how your brain works. Our role is to walk alongside you with curiosity, clinical excellence, and respect for your lived experience.

We are committed to providing a “gold standard” assessment, which means our assessments are more comprehensive and therefore more expensive than some other providers. We are aware that some privately diagnosed individuals are required to be re-assessed by the NHS if they opt to continue their treatment elsewhere. We aim to provide a very high quality assessment that meets NHS standards and evidence that in a detailed assessment report, which we believe is likely to make your healthcare journey smoother in the long run. 

If we think there is a different reason or additional reasons you are having difficulties, we will discuss this with you and offer advice and/or signposting to further sources of support or additional assessment.

It is possible, when clinician availability allows, for this assessment to be completed over the course of one day. Please let us know if this would be your preference. There is likely to be a small additional charge for this.

OUR ADULT ASSESSMENTS CAN BE UNDERTAKEN IN-PERSON AT ONE OF CLINICS IN ST ANDREWS AND DUNDEE OR REMOTELY FROM ANYWHERE IN THE UK.

We offer a range of holistic post-diagnostic supports, including ADHD prescribing via our HIS regulated clinic The St Andrews Practice, where appropriate. See our “ADHD Interventions” page for a list of our non-pharmacological services for ADHD.

All assessment costs can be found on our “Fees” page.