Sarah is a Counselling Psychologist who wears many hats in her professional life, including 12 years of working with the NHS, Founder of Cronos Wellbeing, Humanistic, CBT and EMDR therapist, working in private practice, offering intensive trauma interventions and Adult ADHD Assessing. Sarah disclosed that she has ADHD herself and introduced us to two of her clients, Joanne and Terril, who spoke for themselves via video recording about their own ADHD experiences. These videos were impactful, as they demonstrated to the audience how each client presented differently, but with recognisable traits and behaviour patterns.
Sarah shared with us the Adult ADHD Self Report Scale (ASRS-v1.1) the primary tool for assessment in the UK and how this is used in conjunction with a full developmental, psychiatric and medical history to establish whether the five criteria (A, B, C, D and E) are met and a diagnosis can be made. There was extensive discussion in the room regarding differentiating between the diagnosis of PTSD and ADHD, in particular with clients who have experienced attachment trauma or neglect/abuse in childhood. The feedback from members in the room and via Zoom was very positive, and I am certain we will be inviting Sarah to come back and talk to us again in the future, as this is a vast topic, with much more to learn.
Julie May