ADHD Therapist in London

ADHD therapy in London combines evidence-based psychological treatments like CBT, ACT, and mindfulness approaches to help adults manage attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms. Treatment is available at Buddhist Psychotherapy’s Central London practice near Covent Garden.

Key takeaway: According to NHS Digital data from August 2025, approximately 491,470 people are waiting for ADHD assessments in England, with 65.8% of adults waiting over a year. Private therapy offers immediate access without GP referral, providing structured support whilst you navigate diagnosis or manage existing symptoms.

What Is ADHD and How Common Is It in the UK?

Summary: Adult ADHD affects 3-4% of UK adults according to NHS England’s 2024 ADHD Programme update, presenting as executive dysfunction, emotional dysregulation, and attention difficulties rather than visible hyperactivity.

You’re not imagining it. That constant mental restlessness, the seventeen unfinished projects, the crushing guilt when you’re late again despite leaving “early”—these are real ADHD symptoms affecting real adults. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence estimates global ADHD prevalence at 5% in children and 3-4% in UK adults.

Yet ADHD UK’s 2024 data reveals only 0.32% of UK adults have an ADHD diagnosis—that’s just 1 in 9 of those actually living with the condition. Women especially slip through diagnostic nets, masking symptoms for decades. Your struggles aren’t character flaws; they’re neurobiological differences in how your brain processes dopamine and manages executive function.

The London-Specific ADHD Challenge

Summary: London’s fast-paced environment intensifies ADHD challenges through sensory overload, open-plan offices, expensive impulsivity triggers, and competitive workplace pressures requiring specialised therapeutic approaches.

Living with ADHD in London multiplies every challenge. The Tube at rush hour becomes sensory chaos when you’re already overwhelmed. Open-plan offices in Canary Wharf or Shoreditch mean constant distraction battles. Parliament research shows over 1.76 million NHS therapy referrals in 2022/23, yet waiting times stretch months for ADHD-specific support.

Your creative, divergent thinking could thrive in London’s innovation economy. But first, you need strategies that work with your neurodivergent brain, not against it. Impulse purchases hit differently when a flat white costs £5. Time blindness means missing that crucial 18:47 from Victoria again.

Evidence-Based ADHD Therapy Approaches Available

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) – NICE Recommended Treatment

Summary: NICE guidelines recommend CBT for adult ADHD, with evidence showing significant improvements in symptoms and functioning through structured 8-16 session programmes.

CBT for ADHD isn’t about positive thinking away executive dysfunction. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence specifically recommends structured CBT addressing ADHD symptoms after medication stabilisation.

Your therapy will target practical challenges: time blindness through visual scheduling systems, working memory issues with external brain strategies, emotional dysregulation through thought-behaviour pattern recognition. We adapt standard CBT for ADHD brains—shorter exercises, movement breaks, visual aids.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for ADHD

Summary: ACT helps adults with ADHD develop psychological flexibility, working with traits rather than against them, focusing on values-based living whilst accepting neurodivergent differences.

What if your hyperfocus isn’t a bug but a feature? ACT takes this radical stance. Rather than battling ADHD symptoms as problems requiring elimination, you’ll develop psychological flexibility—the ability to stay present with difficult experiences whilst moving toward valued goals.

Your emotional intensity fuels creativity and empathy alongside overwhelm. Your tendency to see connections others miss drives innovation but complicates simple tasks. ACT helps identify your core values—perhaps authentic connection, creative expression, or meaningful contribution—then commit to aligned actions despite ADHD challenges.

This isn’t toxic positivity pretending ADHD is purely beneficial. It’s acknowledging genuine difficulties whilst not letting diagnosis become identity prison. Your scattered attention and impulsivity exist, causing real problems. But they don’t define your entire existence or limit your potential contribution.

Mindfulness Approaches Adapted for ADHD Brains

Summary: Research published in Journal of Attention Disorders shows mindfulness meditation effectively reduces ADHD symptoms, with 89.8% session attendance and high satisfaction ratings when properly adapted.

Before dismissing meditation as impossible for your buzzing brain—this isn’t about sitting perfectly still for thirty minutes. ADHD-adapted mindfulness looks completely different. A 2024 systematic review found mindfulness interventions reduce ADHD symptoms, particularly when incorporating movement and shorter practices.

Walking meditation through Regent’s Park. Brief breathing exercises between Zoom calls. Noticing thoughts without wrestling them into submission. Studies show mindfulness training improves attention regulation and reduces impulsivity—not through forced focus but through non-judgmental awareness.

We integrate mindfulness within Buddhist psychology frameworks without requiring religious adoption. Think architectural principles from Japanese temples now enhancing modern buildings. Your restless mind isn’t failing at meditation; traditional meditation fails ADHD brains. We’ll find approaches that fit.

The Integration of Buddhist Psychology

A Different Framework for Understanding Neurodiversity

Summary: Buddhist psychology offers non-pathologising perspectives on ADHD traits, viewing symptoms through lenses of impermanence and non-judgment whilst maintaining evidence-based therapeutic standards.

Buddhist psychology—as integrated into Core Process Psychotherapy—offers something unique. Not as religion but as understanding framework for minds that don’t fit standard moulds. Your practice remains at 8 Hop Gardens, combining Western evidence-based approaches with Eastern wisdom traditions.

“Beginner’s mind” isn’t deficit when your ADHD brain naturally approaches familiar tasks with fresh curiosity. That restlessness? Perhaps what Buddhists call the unsettled mind—neither good nor bad, simply human experience requiring compassionate observation rather than harsh judgment.

This approach helps stop the war with yourself. Your scattered attention, emotional intensity, stimulation-seeking—what if these weren’t enemies requiring defeat but aspects requiring understanding? Mark Shiels trained at the Karuna Institute, the only UKCP-accredited Buddhist psychology training in Western Europe, integrating these perspectives with conventional therapy.

Practical ADHD Support Strategies

Managing ADHD in the Workplace

Summary: Workplace ADHD support includes reasonable adjustments strategies, open-plan office coping techniques, deadline management systems, and career alignment guidance for neurodivergent professionals.

Your open-plan office feels designed by someone who despises focus. We’ll develop realistic strategies: noise-cancelling headphones as reasonable adjustment, breaking projects into dopamine-friendly chunks, body-doubling for boring tasks. Should you disclose ADHD to your employer? There’s no universal answer—we’ll evaluate your specific situation, workplace culture, and protection needs.

The 2024 independent ADHD Taskforce report highlights employment challenges, noting only 15% of adults with ADHD receive treatment despite 70-90% potentially benefiting. We’ll explore whether your career aligns with your wiring. Emergency medicine, startups, creative fields often suit ADHD brains. Others need routine with variety.

ADHD and Relationships

Summary: Relationship therapy addresses ADHD-related challenges including time blindness impact, emotional dysregulation in partnerships, and communication strategies for neurodiverse couples.

“You never listen.” “You’re always late.” These accusations sting because despite caring deeply, ADHD symptoms sabotage your intentions. Time blindness isn’t disrespect. Forgotten anniversaries don’t mean you don’t love them. We’ll develop communication strategies helping partners understand executive dysfunction isn’t personal attack.

Parallel play—being together whilst doing separate activities—might suit you better than forced “quality time.” Body doubling makes tedious tasks manageable. Your emotional intensity brings passion alongside volatility. Partners need understanding; you need strategies. Both are possible.

Treatment Access Options in London

In-Person Therapy at Our Central London Practice

Summary: Face-to-face ADHD therapy available at 8 Hop Gardens, St Martins Lane, WC2N 4EH, near Leicester Square and Covent Garden stations, offering private, comfortable therapeutic environment.

Sometimes you need physical separation from daily chaos. Our Central London practice sits at 8 Hop Gardens, St Martins Lane, WC2N 4EH—tucked away yet perfectly accessible via Leicester Square and Covent Garden tubes. The therapy room provides comfortable, confidential space without clinical coldness or motivational posters.

The journey itself becomes transition ritual. Leaving your space, navigating familiar London streets, arriving somewhere dedicated solely to your wellbeing.

Contact details:

• Phone: 07973 890 164 or 020 7209 3224
• Email: mark@buddhistpsychotherapy.org.uk

Online ADHD Therapy Across the UK

Summary: Virtual ADHD counselling removes travel barriers, offering flexible scheduling and home-based sessions via secure platforms for UK-wide access.

Perhaps commuting adds stress when you’re chronically late despite best intentions. Online therapy eliminates travel time miscalculations and Tube sensory overwhelm. Create therapeutic space at home—doesn’t need Pinterest perfection, just privacy and comfort.

NHS Digital reports over one-third of UK adults now open to online counselling, with virtual therapy showing equivalent effectiveness to in-person sessions. Technology hiccups? We’ll troubleshoot together. Screen fatigue? We’ll adjust session lengths. This flexibility itself honours ADHD needs.

Book an online consultation.

Frequently Asked Questions About ADHD Therapy

Do I need an official ADHD diagnosis before starting therapy?

No formal diagnosis required. We work with self-identified ADHD, formal diagnoses, or those exploring whether ADHD explains their struggles. Therapy helps regardless of diagnostic status.

Can therapy help without medication?

Absolutely. While NICE guidelines recommend medication as first-line treatment, therapy provides essential strategies medication cannot. Many clients successfully manage ADHD through therapy alone or combine both approaches.

What’s the difference between ADHD coaching and therapy?

Answer: Coaching focuses on practical strategies and goal achievement. Therapy addresses underlying patterns, emotional regulation, and often co-occurring conditions like anxiety or depression. We integrate both approaches.

Starting Your ADHD Support Journey Today

Summary: Begin professional ADHD support therapy immediately through simple booking process—call 07973 890 164 or email mark@buddhistpsychotherapy.org.uk for confidential consultation at Central London practice.

You’ve read this far—impressive for an ADHD brain. You’ll probably procrastinate booking, opening and closing this page repeatedly. That’s expected. ADHD makes starting things paradoxically difficult, even things you desperately want.

When ready—even if ready feels forced—contact us. Say as much or little as you need. “I think I have ADHD and need help” is enough. No lengthy forms, no overwhelming assessments initially. Just conversation exploring whether we might work well together.

Recent research shows untreated ADHD significantly impacts life expectancy through accidents, substance use, and suicide risk. But with proper support, these risks reduce dramatically. Your ADHD won’t disappear—but shame can diminish, self-criticism can quieten, and you can learn working with your brain’s operating system rather than constantly fighting it.

Contact Mark Shiels today:

• Phone: 07973 890 164 or 020 7209 3224
• Email: mark@buddhistpsychotherapy.org.uk
• Location: 8 Hop Gardens, St Martins Lane, London WC2N 4EH

Professional support exists. You deserve help navigating life with ADHD, especially in demanding London environments. Whether seeking diagnosis, managing existing symptoms, or exploring whether ADHD explains lifelong struggles—we’re here when you’re ready.

Even if ready happens at 3 AM after hyperfocusing on ADHD research for six hours. That’s the ADHD journey. We understand.

Book your initial consultation now.