GP Referral & Price
🔶 Medical Investigations
- Requires Blood Test, ECG, Blood Pressure, Urine Drug Test to be completed prior to the assessment.
- Reserves the right to postpone medication prescribing if the medical practitioner perceives there are physical complications or other co-occurring psychiatric disorders that may require treatment first.
🔶 Price
Cost to Client $1487.90
Medicare rebate $255.90
Fee $1750
🔶Duration
2 to 3 hour clinical assessment
30 mins consultation with Psychiatrist
bulk billed follow-up progress call from Psychiatrist
🔶 GP Referral
A GP referral is required for all undiagnosed & diagnosed ADHD assessments.
Your GP will send your referral directly to us. RMC does NOT accept referrals directly from Clients
🔶 Booking Approach
Text message confirmation within 3 days of the clinic receiving your GP referral.
Phone call and text contact to book your appointment within 7-10 days of receiving your GP referral
🔶Appointment Location
Video appointments available
In person appointments in Belconnen.
Medical Investigations required
🔶 Blood Test, ECG & Urine Drug Test
A pathology visit is required where a brief ECG test on your heart and Urine Drug test and
Blood Test will take place.
Click here for more detail
🔶 Blood Pressure reading
Obtained from any pharmacy
🔶 Blood Test
At the pathology clinic the nurse will undertake a full blood test which explores a number of different medical conditions and presentations.
This is important to rule out any possible medical causes of long-term challenges with attention, concentration, energy, and motivation.
Your GP may have undertaken this blood test at the time of your appointment with them when you first discussed the possibility of ADHD.
If the blood test has not been undertaken by your GP then our clinic will send you a script which will include the ECG and urine drug test.
Detail on a Full Blood Test can be found here at Health Direct Gov AU
🔶 ECG and Urine Drug Test
Emailed to you
Please print this form out & take to either:
Laverty Pathology
Capital Capital
Both have multiple clinics
Results sent directly to our clinic
🔶 ECG
This is a brief test that which monitors your heart.
This is required as ADHD can cause an increase in heart rate.
Further details found here
🔶 Urine drug test
This is to ensure that any prescribed ADHD medication does not
interact with any possible substances an individual is using.
🔶Blood Pressure Reading
Any pharmacy offers a reading. It takes a few minutes and does not require an appointment.
Please take a picture on your smart device and email this directly to the clinic
Blood Pressure readings explanations
The Clinical Assessment
🔶 Our Approach
Rainbow Mandala Clinic (RMC) provides a neurodiversity-affirming clinical assessment that explores your experiences, strengths, challenges and support needs across your lifespan.
Our aim is to provide a respectful and supportive environment in which you feel comfortable sharing your experiences. We hope the assessment offers insight, greater self-understanding and an opportunity to make sense of difficulties you may have experienced over many years.
🔶 What to Expect
Your clinical assessment involves a two- to three-hour semi-structured interview with our GP Mental Health Specialist, Psychiatric Nurse or Social Work Practitioner. We allow three hours, although appointments typically take approximately two and a half hours.
Each of these clinicians has at least 17 years of clinical experience in complex mental health. The interview combines a structured assessment with a relaxed, conversational approach, giving you space to describe your experiences in your own words.
You are welcome to move, change position or take comfort breaks during the assessment. For video consultations, we encourage you to choose a private, comfortable space where you feel safe and at ease.
🔶 Understanding Your Experiences Across Your Lifespan
Your clinician will explore your developmental history, including experiences during childhood, adolescence and adulthood. We recognise that recalling early experiences can be difficult and will support you in describing what you remember.
The assessment considers your current challenges, when they first emerged, how they have changed over time, and the strategies you have developed to manage them. It also explores your strengths and how different environments and expectations influence your day-to-day functioning.
🔶 Assessment Tools and Questionnaires
Your clinician will discuss your responses to the assessment tools and questionnaires used as part of your assessment, including:
- Barkley Deficits in Executive Functioning Scale (BDEFS).
- Diagnostic Interview for ADHD in Adults (DIVA-5).
- Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire (CAT-Q).
- Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria Questionnaire.
- Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS-16).
These tools support a broader clinical understanding of your experiences. Their findings are considered alongside your history and clinical interview, rather than used in isolation to establish a diagnosis.
The interview also explores executive functioning and self-regulation, including managing time, organising tasks, sustaining effort, inhibiting impulses and regulating emotions.
🔶 Understanding the Impact on Daily Life
Difficulties managing everyday demands are often
what lead someone to seek an ADHD assessment. Understanding these difficulties—described clinically as functional impairment—is an important part of the assessment.
We use the Weiss Functional Impairment Rating Scale to help explore the impact of your difficulties on daily life. The discussion considers areas such as:
- Family life and relationships.
- Work and education.
- Daily living skills and responsibilities.
- Self-concept and self-esteem.
- Social life and intimate relationships.
- Leisure activities and hobbies.
- Risk-related behaviours, where relevant.
We also consider the effort required to maintain your functioning and the supports or strategies you rely on.
🔶 Considering Other Explanations and Co-occurring Conditions
The assessment includes a differential diagnosis process. This means considering whether your experiences are best explained by ADHD, another mental health or physical health condition, or a combination of conditions.
Anxiety, depression and social anxiety can occur alongside ADHD. For some people, these difficulties may be influenced by the cumulative impact of living with unrecognised or unsupported ADHD. For others, they represent distinct conditions requiring their own assessment and treatment. Improvement in ADHD symptoms does not necessarily resolve a co-occurring presentation.
Areas explored include:
- Anxiety disorders, including generalised anxiety and social anxiety.
- Depression.
- Bipolar disorder.
- Trauma-related conditions.
- Borderline personality disorder.
Where your history indicates a possible condition, your clinician will explore it in greater detail against the relevant diagnostic criteria.
🔶 Sleep, Wellbeing and Safety
Your clinician will explore sleep difficulties, including insomnia, and how these may affect your concentration, emotional wellbeing and daily functioning.
The assessment also includes a sensitive discussion of current and previous suicidal thoughts or behaviours, relevant risk factors, protective factors and available supports.
🔶 Not Part of the Standard RMC Approach
For adult clients, RMC’s standard assessment approach does not include:
- Neurophysiological testing.
- School reports.
- Interviews with significant others.
School reports and information from significant others may be helpful for clients who are still teenagers or attending Years 11 or 12. Our experienced clinicians may request these supporting documents or additional information when further detail is needed to clarify the diagnostic assessment.
The Psychiatric Consultation
🔶 Psychiatric Consultation & Diagnosis
30 mins with Psychiatrist
🔶 Medication Support
check-in call from Dr Lewis email helpdesk
phone review
clinical support to help with finding the correct dose Details
🔶 RMC practices a Neurodiverse Affirming assessment.
Psychiatrists are specialists in diagnosing, and treating the range of adult
mental health and psychiatric disorders.
The Psychiatrist confirms the diagnosis of ADHD.
Psychiatrists are trained in understanding how medication works on the brain and body and any interactions or potential complications between different medications.
🔶 Dr Lewis will collaboratively discuss ADHD medication:
- How it works.
- Long & short acting.
- Benefits & effectiveness.
- Explore the results of your ECG, urine drug screen and blood pressure test results.
- Review your Blood Test results to exclude any possible medical conditions that may be leading to difficulty with attention and short term memory.
- Review all medications you are prescribed with the aim of assessing if there are potential side-effects.
RMC uses the following evidenced based self-report questionnaires.
See ADHD diagnostic frameworks.
Questionnaires
All of the self-report scales and questionnaires listed will have been emailed to be completed electronically many weeks prior to the clinical assessment.
These questionnaires are explored in detail in advance of your clinical assessment by the psychiatrist and mental health clinician. The results of these are reviewed in a clinical review meeting prior to your appointment and then discussed collaboratively with you during your detailed clinical assessment.
🔶 ADHD Diagnostic Assessments:
• The Adult ADHD Self Report Scale (ASRS-V1.1).
• DIVA diagnostic interview for adult ADHD (DIVA-5)
• Barkley Deficits in Executive Functioning Scale (BDEFS-SF)
• Weiss Adult ADHD Functional Impairment Rating Scale (WFIRS)
• Difficulties in Emotional Regulation Scale (DERS-16)
• Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria Scale (RSD)
• Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire (CATQ)
🔶 Psychiatric Measures:
• DSM-5 multi-disorder screening scale (explored in the session)
• Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)
• Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ)
• The General Anxiety Disorder Severity Scale (GADSS)
• Brief Trauma Screening (BTQ)
• Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire
🔶 Risk Assessment:
• Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) active and lifetime.
🔶Sleep:
Insomnia rating scale
🔶 Executive Functioning
This investigation explores symptoms across Self Organisation, Self Restraint,
Self Motivation, Self Regulation of Emotions, & Self Management to Time.
Executive Functioning Challenges:
- Attention Regulation
- Difficulty with focused attention
- Difficulty sustaining attention
- Distractibility
- Hyperfocus (inconsistent attentional allocation)
- Impulsivity
- Verbal impulsivity
- Cognitive impulsivity (rapid, unfiltered thinking)
- Behavioural impulsivity
- Motivation and Task Engagement
- Procrastination
- Difficulty initiating tasks
- Planning and Organisation
- Difficulties with planning
- Difficulties with prioritisation
- Time Processing
- Time blindness (impaired time awareness and estimation)
- Working Memory
- Reduced working memory capacity
- Difficulty holding and manipulating information
- Emotional Regulation
- Difficulties with emotional regulation
- Rejection sensitivity
- Arousal and Restlessness
- Inner restlessness
- Sleep Regulation
- Insomnia
- Poor sleep hygiene
Problems & Impairment in Daily Life
Functional impairment in adult ADHD frequently impacts an individual’s overall quality of life. A thorough clinical assessment therefore explores the different areas where these impairments may emerge.
As people age, environmental demands (academic, occupational, financial, and social) typically increase in number, scope, and complexity. When resources fall short, impairments emerge.
Because each person’s profile of internal and external resources is unique, the timing of impairment onset varies. Some individuals may show impairments early in childhood, while others may not experience significant functional difficulties until later in adolescence or adulthood.
At RMC, we place strong emphasis on exploring your lived experience of impairment: how it has shown up in your daily life, and when it first emerged for you. For some, this may become apparent only in adulthood—especially as independence and responsibility increase.
At RMC, our diagnostic approach includes the Weiss Functional Impairment Rating Scale – Self Report (WFIRS-S). This scale captures the individual’s perspective on their own functioning across seven domains:
- Risk (14 items)A functional impairment occurs when an individual’s available resources are insufficient to meet the demands of their environment. These resources include:
- Internal resources – e.g., the ability to concentrate, remember, and inhibit impulses
- External resources – e.g., support from family, teachers, or colleagues
- Family (8 items)
- Work (11 items)
- School (10 items)
- Life Skills (12 items)
- Self-Concept (5 items)
- Social (9 items)
Medication Support & Guidance
Detailed Information on Stimulant Medication
Finding the correct dose
With stimulant medication is fundamental to gaining benefits of longer attention, less distractibility, greater focused attention, less difficulty with starting and finishing activities that are boring, long, tedious, repetitive, difficult, needing a lot of thought or preparation or do not offer an immediate reward.
The optimal dose
For ADHD medication is not determined by height or weight, but is determined by how efficiently the medication is metabolised in the GI tract, how efficiently the medication is metabolised and how efficiently the medication passes across the blood brain barrier.
The correct dose is specific to each person and one person may require a much higher dose to obtain the same benefits as another individual. Some people may experience mild physical side- effects, and so an approach of gradually testing out a gradually increased dose, incrementally, is required.
Explanation of ADHD medication
Clinical trials highlighting effectiveness and safety
Studies on Safety of Vyvanse medication:
How ADHD medication works: click here for more details
Dr Lewis has created a comprehensive Improvements & Side Effects Diary to help monitor your progress and decide on the most suitable dose of ADHD medication.
The easy to read diary includes explanations and answers to any common occurring side effects which sometimes present while a person in adapting to the medication at different doses.
Our approach follows an established approach of diluting medication in water, and by using a plastic syringe, gradually increasing the amount of the solution every three days.
ADHD Medication explained
Clinical Studies on effectiveness of long acting stimulant medication for ADHD
These medicines are called stimulants because they increase the brain
chemicals dopamine and norepinephrine.
They are a central nervous system stimulant prescription medicine.
These medications are Schedule 8 medicines which are subject to strict legislative controls due to their high potential for misuse, abuse and dependence.
They come in 2 forms; long acting & short acting
🔶 Long acting
Takes from 45-90 mins to work
Lasts from 8-12 hours
One a day
Doses from 20mg to 70mg
This medication is Vyvanse
Vyvanse Patient Information
Vyvanse Clinical Information
Detailed medication data can be found here
Covered on PBS $31.60 for 30 days
🔶 Short acting
Takes around 30 mins to work
Lasts from 3-4 hours
Multiple doses per day, upto a max of 8 tablets per day
5mg dose
This medication is Dexamphetamine
Clinical trials highlighting effectiveness and safety
Long-lasting medicines are usually the most practical option because people with ADHD may have trouble remembering to take their medicine.
They also provide steady symptom relief throughout the day. By contrast, if you use short-acting stimulants, your symptoms may return between doses. Some people “crash” as their short-acting dose wears off, meaning their energy and mood drop.
Resources for ADHD
- Sleep Disorders & ADHD video by Professor Kooji
- Starting & Completing tasks with ADHD Video by Dr Saline
- Avoidance, procrastination & ADHD video by Dr Saline
- Causes of ADHD By Dr Russell Barkley Video
- Why ADHD is so impairing Dr Russell Barkley video
- Introduction to ADHD By Dr Tracy Marks YouTube
- Dr Thomas Brown Video Oppositional Defiant Disorder in Boys
- Dr William Dobson video on Executive Functioning
- Dr Thomas Brown video Time Management & ADHD
- Dr Ari Tuckman video ADHD as a disorder of Self Regulation
- Dr Russell Barkley video ADHD as a Motivation Deficit Disorder
- Dr Russell Barkley video Inner Restlessness & ADHD
- Russell Barkley video ADHD & Caffeine
- Dr Russell Barkley Video Men with ADHD
- Resources for managing disregulation, shame & anger video
- Executive Functioning ADHD & Executive Functioning Video Dr Russell Barkley
- Causes of ADHD Dr Russell Barkley Video
- Why ADHD is so impairing By Dr Russell Barkley video
- Rejection Sensitivity & Borderline Personality Disorder & ADHD Video By Dr Sanil Rege
- An ADHD guide to Emotional Dysregulation & Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria By Dr William Dodson Video
- Rejection Sensitivity & Social Anxiety By Dr Sharon SalineVideo
- Hyperfocusing Video by Dr Russell Barkley
- Perfectionism Dr Sharon Saline video
- Sleep & ADHD Video
- The Importance of Grieving the diagnosis of ADHD
This video talks about how grief can present shortly after a diagnosis of ADHD. Grief for possible missed opportunities in all areas of life, as a consequence of ADHD.
This video the Grief of Wasted Time explores this is more detail.