Your First Choice in The UK
Assessment
Psychologists are the only profession in mental health to be specifically and comprehensively trained in the science of psychology. Many different types of clinician are trained to assess psychological functions and behaviour to some degree, but not to that expected of a practitioner psychologist. We are trained to apply the science of psychology, it's method, theories and standards to all our work. As a result assessments are thorough, and not led by just one model of therapy or professional function (e.g. diagnosis).
Diagnosis
Psychologists (and psychiatrists) are trained as diagnosticians as part of their core training. The process of diagnosis is more complicated than ticking a set of criteria off a list, and requires the integration of a great deal of information from multiple sources, and following specific scientific principles. Without this experience and training, it is easy to miss a diagnosis, or allocate the wrong diagnosis. Abraham Maslow put it well when he said "If all you have is a hammer, all you see is nails". With a core training, and supervised accredited practice in diagnostics, psychologists can meet the clinician's duty of care to not cause harm by missing or mis-diagnosing.
Treatment
Currently in the UK psychologists do not prescribe, it is not part of our core training. This has been under review by NHS England for some time with the most recent consultation in 2019. Own Your ADHD has strong links with excellent, experienced prescribers who can offer a high quality service in a short space of time. In addition Own Your ADHD offers the input that is so difficult to come by; coaching, 1-1 sessions, psychotherapy, online sessions, group sessions. In addition to this, co-morbidities with autism spectrum traits and OCD are not a challenge and a range of different treatment options exists for these circumstances.
