Own Your ADHD - Dr Rob Agnew

Therapist Directory Listing Category: Online Therapy

About the Therapist

About the therapist:

I come from a working class family in East London and was educated by Jesuits, although I am not religious. I consider myself a cis gendered gay man. Most of my clients would probably say that I am not quite what they expected, often because of my informal and approachable style, as well as my willingness to share relevant aspects of my own experience in sessions when it is helpful. I am not a fan of the stereotypical professional persona, as I feel it tends to benefit the therapist more than the client. That said, I deeply value professional standards of practice and ethics, and I have been actively involved in helping to develop these within the profession.

In more recent years, I have chosen to specialise in ADHD, in part because I have received the diagnosis myself. I also specialise in supporting people with co occurring difficulties that are often seen alongside ADHD, such as obsessive compulsive difficulties, body image concerns, eating presentations, anxiety, depression, self harm and addiction, always with a neuroinclusive perspective.

Sexual identity:

Gender identity: Male

Gender history: As assigned at birth

Non-monogamy: Yes

Intersex: No

Neurodivergent: Yes

Personal pronouns: he/him

Qualifications - Links to websites:

BSc(Hons) Psychology 2004, University of East London

DClinPsy Clinical Psychology 2008, University College London

Qualifications - Additional:

Award	Awarding body	Year of award

Experience and approach:

ADHD practice is in its early development and there has been little in terms of standards or specifically evidenced approaches. For many years private clinics have seen ADHD as a source of revenue to be tapped into, and as a result services and practices have set up quickly, employed clinicians with little relevant background. In addition to this, various computer programmes and software platforms have emerged to 'quickly' diagnose ADHD, and have corrupted the definition of this complex neurodevelopmental difference as something that can be defined purely by reaction times and visual attention. As a result there is now a great deal of confusion, suspicion and stigma associated with ADHD diagnoses.

I use my training in clinical psychology and my background in brain injury, autism and ADHD services to map out the 'neuro-profile' of each of my clients individually. ADHD looks very different between people, you cannot have a one-size-fits-all approach. I approach the things from the cognitive, behavioural, systemic and emotional regulation perspectives but also ensure that learned perfectionism, emotional overcontrol and the management of neuro-fatigue are considered.

Over the years I have developed an approach called 'circadian programming' that uses 'intact' fundamental neurocognitive mechanisms to compensate for those that differ in ADHD, and a set of strategies that go beyond 'dopamine-hunting' and compensatory cognitive strategies that often fail to deliver in the long term.

The co-morbid presentations I often see in my clinic ('Pure O' OCD, BDD, emetophobia) are informed by my ADHD practice where relevant. But therapeutically I use elements of behavioural therapy, CBT, DBT, compassion based approaches, RO-DBT and reparative attachment approaches to help people move towards more freedom in their thinking and their living.

Around 70% of my clients are from the LGBTQ+ communities, and I am fortunate to see clients from the trans, no-binary and intersex communities. However, I have not worked in gender identity services and do not offer diagnoses of gender dysphoria, unless there is a clinical issue that I have expertise in, that would otherwise stop clients from using a mainstream service.

Approaches: