How our service can help you
How our service can help you:
NAAAPS offers direct and indirect short to medium term psychological support for adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and/or autism. The service offers a range of psychological assessment and intervention options to individuals, families and carers, based upon best practice in this area. We also offer liaison and consultation work to support health professionals in local services working with people with these conditions.
NAAAPS is a tertiary service and as such there is an expectation that people diagnosed with autism and/or ADHD who also have mental health difficulties will be seen be seen in local mental health services, with those services making reasonable adjustments wherever possible. NAAAPS provides a service for adults diagnosed with autism and/or ADHD whose psychological needs cannot be met elsewhere, either because the neurodevelopmental condition makes it hard for services to support them, even with reasonable adjustments, or because they are psychologically distressed due to their neurodevelopmental condition, but they do not have a diagnosed mental health condition.
Referrals accepted from:
GP or secondary mental health services.
Neuro-affirmative practice:
Our service strives to be neuro-affirming. This means that we:
- View autism and ADHD as differences not deficits
- We offer person-centred support, identifying and drawing on an individual’s unique strengths and abilities;
- Help people speak up for themselves and advocate for their needs; where possible, and if the individual wishes, we liaise with the system around the individual to help better understand and support them.
A note on terminology:
The preferred language to refer to autism and ADHD varies from person to person. In NAAAPS clinical practice we ask each service user what their preference is.
In our service communications including this website, we follow National Autistic Society (NAS) guidance, which is based on language research carried out on the preferences of autistic people, their families and professionals. Thus, we use the term 'autism spectrum disorder' when specifically referring to the diagnosis made using the current medical manuals DSM-5 and ICD-11; at all other times we use the term 'autism'. We use 'identify first' language, i.e. 'autistic person' (as opposed to 'person with autism'), known as 'person first' language.
There is no equivalent guidance yet for ADHD though some people in the ADHD community refer to themselves as ‘ADHDers’. In common with many healthcare settings, we use ‘person first’ language i.e. ‘person with ADHD’. As with autism we only use the term ‘disorder’ when referring in full to the DSM-5 and ICD-11 diagnostic terms; when talking about ADHD and autism together we use the term ‘neurodevelopmental conditions’.
- Service Type: 2 Treatment type: Outpatient (this service does not provide urgent appointments or case management)
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Contact the service
Site Location: Maudsley Hospital (with virtual sessions available) Email: naaapsenquiries@slam.nhs.uk Phone Number: 020 3228 6791 - Address: Maudsley Hospital Denmark Hill London SE5 8AZ,Southwark,
- Conditions: Autism, ADHD
Other essential information
Interventions
Interventions are delivered either in person or remotely, or a combination of both, with the mode of delivery determined by service-user choice, where possible, or clinical need.
Psychology Assessment only
Psychology assessments are offered for adults who may find it difficult to engage with a course of therapy or where it is not clear what input may be most helpful. We will assess the person’s presenting difficulties and develop a brief formulation and recommendations to support local services in determining individual needs and possible treatment pathways. This will be summarised in a report.
Consultation
We offer formal consultation to staff teams to support formulation and treatment planning for individual cases. There is also the option for the referring team to come back for one or more review meetings to discuss the implementation of the recommendations. The consultation will be summarised in a report to the staff team.
Follow-up sessions
Following either an initial consultation or assessment, there is the option for the referring team to come back for one or more review meetings to discuss implementation of the recommendations. This option can also be used to discuss the findings from assessments including neuropsychological evaluations.
Psychological input
We offer tailored input for both ADHD and autism. An assessment will be carried out which will inform the focus of the work. Input can be delivered to the individual themselves and/or their supporters; some or all the input may take the form of liaising with a local service offering advice and guidance, to ensure the individual receives services to meet the needs arising from their neurodivergence.
Goals will be agreed with the individual, family or system as appropriate. They may include exploring the impact of the diagnosis, understanding associated strengths and needs, developing coping strategies to manage challenges associated with neurodevelopmental differences, managing psychological distress and working with the family or system to implement appropriate support. Therapy is delivered by trained therapists specialising in neurodevelopmental conditions, as well as their trainees under supervision.
Possible approaches include:
- Post-diagnostic support (such as psychoeducation);
- Cognitive behavioural therapies (CBT) - drawing on a broad range of ‘third wave’ therapies including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) skills;
- Family focused interventions;
- Art therapy;
- Existential psychotherapy
Discharge
Following input from NAAAPS, the service user will be discharged to their referrer with a discharge report. The report will outline the input given and recommendations regarding any ongoing support.
Eligibility Criteria
Please note that NAAAPS is not an alternative to local mental health services. If mental health support is required alongside input from NAAAPS, please ensure this is provided locally both while the individual waits to be seen by our service and during any episode of NAAAPS care. Cases requiring acute risk management and/or intensive multidisciplinary involvement are likely to be clinically unsuitable for direct clinical work in this service. If risk issues are identified during the intervention period, we will contact the GP and, where applicable, local services. In cases where there is acute risk it may be necessary to pause our intervention while local services work to support and stabilise the individual.
NAAAPS clinically screens all referrals.
To access the service, the individual must:
- Be 18 years and over
Have a confirmed diagnosis of adult ADHD and/or autism
Where the service user has a significant mental health problem, they must be willing to engage with their local services to address it; service users who present with significant risk to self or others will only be considered where there is evidence of a robust safety management plan locally.
We are unable to accept cases for direct interventions where:
- There is unmanaged and/or significant ongoing risk to self or others.
The service user requires more intensive input that would more suitably be provided by an inpatient unit or local multidisciplinary services
The service user’s primary need is for alternative specialist input more suitably provided by another service (e.g. complex needs or personality disorder service, eating disorder service, learning disability team).
Such cases may be suitable for consultation, subject to clinical screening.
Outcomes
A range of clinical outcomes measures are undertaken, based upon presenting difficulties.
Intended outcomes include:
- A better understanding of ADHD and/or autism for the person and those around them
- Reductions in service-user ratings of emotional distress
- Service-user ratings of improvement and satisfaction
- Identifying and implementing helpful coping strategies and/or adaptations to be made in education, workplace and other healthcare settings
- Advice and support to the individual’s network as required
- Improved awareness of national support services through signposting, e.g. National Autistic Society, support groups for autism and ADHD.
Care options
Referral Guide
Access
Referrals can be made from across the UK, however funding must be sought for each individual referral, and for each intervention. Access to this service is subject to ICB specialist mental health commissioning arrangements. All referrals must be made by an NHS clinician and the team cannot accept self-referrals.
Referrals
New NAAAPS Referral Form — May 2025
Please email your completed referral form to: naaapsenquiries@slam.nhs.uk
Referrals will be received by the NAAAPS administration team. The service referral form (most up-to-date version) must be submitted by the referrer with all fields completed in full before a referral will be accepted into the service for clinical screening. This referral must include information outlining the diagnosis of ADHD/autism, including the report from the diagnostic assessment, why input cannot be provided by local mental health services and/or interventions already considered/provided, and local management plans where the person presents with complex needs including risk to self or others.
Each referral will be screened to identify the most suitable treatment. Where the clinical team feels an alternative care option is needed to the one being asked for, the appropriate recommendation will be made.
Following clinical screening, the referrer, GP and service-user will be informed of the outcome, and if the service-user is accepted to the service, they will be placed on the waiting list.
Decision Tree
