Parents Plus ADHD Programme at Gloucestershire CAMHS
Gloucestershire CAMHS services had for many years run the Parents Plus Children’s Programme across their parent support. In 2024, they reviewed their parent needs and decided to include the Parents Plus ADHD programme in their offer to meet a growing demand from families for this support.
Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust
In 2024, ten programmes were provided with an average of 13 parents per group. A further 15 Parents Plus ADHD groups are due to be delivered in 2025. 71% of the parents attended more than 70% of sessions which is a good retention rate.
The teams and the parents have loved the programme, which focuses on the differences, strengths and needs of being neurodivergent; moving away from the idea that the child must be encouraged to change, and taking a more holistic approach to the system that exists around the child and the importance of this system being collaborative, cooperative and understanding of times when the child “Can’t,” not “Won’t”.
The Parents Plus ADHD parent book and solution-focused facilitation encourages empathetic, calmer and realistic approaches with their child, by using Parent Plus’ fundamental message of ‘Pause, Tune in and Plan’.
Feedback from parents after the final group session included:
Case Study
Dad Richard attended nine group sessions along with a pre and post 1:1 session. His goals were to ‘stay calmer during his child’s meltdowns’ and to ‘better understand ADHD’. At the time, his child did not have an ADHD diagnosis. Richard was one of three dads in the group.
Richard found participation in the first session difficult. He struggled with the “journey” conversations and with sharing his own experiences. However, during the second session, he had a ‘lightbulb moment’, following the “12 Challenges of ADHD” topic, realising his child’s behaviour wasn’t intentionally defiant, lazy, or avoidant. He acknowledged the challenges his child faced and began to respond to their needs more empathetically.
Each week, Richard shared positive feedback, enjoying discussions with other dads about playtimes with his child. In the final session, he openly discussed his journey in a breakout room with the other dads, describing it as the “best, hardest thing” he had done.
In his final feedback, he highlighted the importance of being with others with similar challenges, and the sense of solidarity he experienced with this.
Probably the feeling of being around other dads in a group with similar issues and feeling less alone.
This article is taken from Parents Plus Annual Report 2024. If you are interested in running the Parents Plus ADHD Children’s Programme in your service, you will find more details about the programme and our scheduled training dates here. We also offer on-site and tailored training for services wishing to train larger groups of practitioners. You’ll find information on tailored training here.
