Vicki Demirdjian - Psychotherapist

Navigating the ADHD assessment pathway can feel confusing, especially when clients are unsure whether their difficulties reflect ADHD, anxiety, trauma, burnout, depression, or another overlapping presentation.

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As a qualified psychotherapist, I offer a formal ADHD Pre-Screening and Clinical Triage Service. This service does not provide a diagnosis of ADHD. Instead, it is designed to gather structured clinical information, screen for indicators commonly associated with ADHD, identify functional impairment across key areas of life, and consider whether alternative or co-existing difficulties may be contributing to the client’s presentation.

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The final outcome is a Clinical Evidence Pack that can be shared with a GP, NHS service, private psychiatrist or specialist ADHD assessor to support onward referral and assessment.

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The pack may include:

Clinical ADHD Pre-Screening & Triage Summary
Clinical Evidence Summary for Medical Referral
Psychometric scoring summaries and interpretation notes
 

The Pre-Assessment Service 

Session 1:Intake & Developmental Pre-Screening Interview — 75 minutes
This session explores your developmental history and current presentation. We review early childhood indicators, educational history, work and occupational functioning, emotional regulation, relationships, daily routines, executive functioning, and any current difficulties with attention, organisation, impulsivity, restlessness or task completion.

 

Session 2:Psychometric Screening & Collateral Information — 75 minutes
This session involves the completion and review of structured ADHD screening tools and relevant differential screening measures. Where appropriate, and with your consent, collateral information may also be gathered from someone who knows you well, such as a parent, partner, close family member or trusted colleague. This helps explore whether traits are present across more than one setting.

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Session 3: Clinical Formulation & Report — 50 minutes
This session brings together the interview material, psychometric screening results, functional impairment evidence, developmental history and differential considerations. You will receive a written ADHD Pre-Screening and Clinical Triage Summary that can be shared with your GP or specialist medical provider.

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Screening Tools Used

Where appropriate, this service may use recognised screening and structured assessment tools to support the triage process. These tools do not provide a diagnosis but they can help organise evidence for onward referral.

Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale — ASRS v1.1 - A widely used adult ADHD screening questionnaire that explores the frequency of ADHD-related symptoms in everyday life.

DIVA-5 Structured Interview Framework - A structured adult ADHD interview framework based on DSM-5 criteria, used here to organise developmental and current symptom information for pre-screening and referral purposes.

WFIRS-S or WSAS Helps evidence impairment across work, home, relationships, social functioning and daily life. 

Collateral Informant Information -Where appropriate, information from a third-party informant may be used to explore whether difficulties are present across more than one setting.

Differential Screening: GAD-7 and PHQ-9 - Screening measures for anxiety and depression may be used to help identify overlapping symptoms or alternative explanations for concentration, motivation, sleep, mood or executive functioning difficulties.

 

Objectives - The purpose of this service is to:

Identify ADHD indicators by exploring patterns of inattention, impulsivity, restlessness and executive dysfunction.

Establish cross-setting impact by considering whether difficulties affect more than one area of life, such as work, study, relationships, home life or emotional wellbeing.

Explore childhood onset by gathering developmental evidence of traits or impairments before the age of 12, where possible.

Consider differential explanations including anxiety, depression, trauma responses, burnout, sleep difficulties and other mental health presentations that can overlap with ADHD.

Support onward referral by presenting structured clinical information that may assist a GP, Psychiatrist or specialist ADHD Assessor in deciding whether a full diagnostic assessment is appropriate.

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Does this service diagnose ADHD?
No. This is a pre-screening and clinical triage service. It does not provide a formal diagnosis of ADHD and does not replace a full assessment by a psychiatrist, specialist ADHD clinician or appropriately qualified diagnostic professional.

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How can this report help my GP or psychiatrist?
GP appointments are often brief, and referrals may require clear evidence of functional impairment and developmental history. This report organises relevant clinical information, screening scores, collateral observations and functional examples into a structured format that can support onward referral.