When Guidelines Fail: Fundamental Problems with the AADPA Guideline for ADHD

This webinar will be recorded and the link will be sent to all registrants - please indicate when registering if you will attend the live session or watch the recording later. NO further places available for the live session.

The unmet needs of people with attention difficulties are increasingly highlighted across all media. Clinicians are seeking guidance about how to respond to such people looking for help and support. 

Politician Chloë Swarbrick has promoted the adoption of the recent AADPA Australian Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guideline for ADHD. The guideline has been endorsed by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, the NZ College of General Practitioners and the advocacy group ADHD NZ. It has not yet been formally considered by the New Zealand Psychological Society or the New Zealand College of Clinical Psychologists.  

These clinical organisations, along with individual psychologists who are thinking of using the guideline in their practice, should first be familiar with its limits and weaknesses. In a recent publication, one of us evaluated the guideline against what should be expected of guidelines used by clinicians in Aotearoa. That is, that they reflect Te Tiriti principles and processes; are neutral and independent; prevent under- and over-diagnosis; and are based on relevant available evidence. 

This workshop will focus on the significant problems in the guideline: its weak evidence base, conflicts of interest, and the omission of important ADHD research.  

We will look in detail at published research about the significance of relative age effects, the risks of diagnosis, the negative outcomes of stimulant medications, limitations of some assessment methods, and important emerging alternative treatments. 

Workshop attendees will leave knowledgable about a broad body of ADHD research. They will be better informed about the issues behind current debates about how to best respond to people who may have ADHD, and take away practical ideas about what to consider when assessing people for attention difficulties.

Presenters:

Giselle Bahr has long been interested in understanding distress in context. She works as a Clinical Psychologist in private practice in Te Whanganui-ā-tara Wellington. Before that, she worked in CAMHS, in NGOs, and at a university training clinical psychologists. She provides therapy, supervision, training and courses. She is part of Excellence in Mind.

Gauranga (Rongo) Jeram Patel has worked and managed in various industries, spent too much time alone in the outdoors, and currently struggles to keep up with his two small children. He has worked as a Clinical Psychologist in a specialist addiction service and now an acute mental health hospital, both providing ample experience of the challenges inherent in addictive medications. He supervises, consults, and serves as a clinical lecturer with local universities.