ADHD and neurodiversity CPD has become a crowded market. Every week brings new courses, webinars, podcasts and certificates, some built by clinicians on peer-reviewed evidence and some by people who discovered the topic last year. For clinicians, coaches, teachers and therapists who want to specialise in ADHD, the task is not finding CPD but choosing it — and shaping it into a portfolio that demonstrates real expertise to the people who matter: regulators, referrers, employers and clients.
Why ADHD CPD matters beyond the requirement
Professional regulators — the GMC, the NMC, the HCPC, the BPS and coaching bodies such as the ICF and the Association for Coaching — all require evidence of continuing professional development. But compliance is the floor. In a field where anyone can claim ADHD expertise, a coherent CPD record is what distinguishes a practitioner: it tells a referring psychiatrist that a coach understands medication, tells a school that a behavioural practitioner knows the neuroscience, tells a patient that a prescriber has trained specifically in ADHD. Good CPD is a credential in a field that has few.
Start with a competency audit
Effective CPD planning begins with an honest assessment of gaps. Which client groups are you least confident with — adults, children, women with late diagnoses, autistic clients with ADHD? Which domains are thin — assessment, medication, coaching methodology, behavioural support, family systems, executive function? Which situations make you refer on when you would rather not? Choosing CPD from that audit, rather than from what is being advertised, is the difference between a portfolio and a pile of certificates.
What accreditation means, and what it does not
CPD accreditation by an independent body — the CPD Standards Office, a Royal College or a professional association — confirms that a course has been reviewed for structure, learning outcomes and hours. It does not confirm that the content is right. Look behind the badge: who wrote and teaches the course, what their clinical or professional credentials are, whether the material cites the guidance and research it rests on, and whether anything is assessed. A course taught by practising clinicians, mapped to NICE guidance and ending in an assessment carries more weight than a longer one that is none of those things.
Spotting evidence-based ADHD training
Warning signs are easy to list: no named authors, no references, claims that a single method 'cures' or 'reverses' ADHD, training that is entirely pre-recorded with no live element and no way to ask a question, and certificates awarded for attendance alone. Good signs: the course explains what the evidence does not show as well as what it does, distinguishes ADHD from the conditions that mimic and accompany it, and is explicit about scope — when a coach should refer to a clinician, when a prescriber should refer to a psychologist.
Breadth or depth?
Early in a specialism, breadth pays: a working knowledge of assessment, medication, coaching, behavioural approaches and the family context makes every conversation with a colleague more productive, whichever role you hold. Later, depth in one area — prescribing, complex neurodevelopmental presentations, parent coaching, executive function — is what builds a reputation and a referral base, while maintaining currency in the adjacent areas. Plan a year at a time; revisit the audit annually.
Recording and presenting your CPD
Record more than hours. For each course note what you learned, what you changed in practice as a result and what you will do next; regulators increasingly ask for reflection rather than attendance, and a referrer reading your profile wants to see a direction, not a list. Group the record by domain so the shape of your expertise is visible at a glance.
ADHD and neurodiversity CPD from Mind Companion Institute
Mind Companion Institute was founded on the principle that CPD for ADHD and neurodiversity practitioners should be rigorous, clinically grounded and practically useful. Every programme is built and taught by practising clinicians, is CPD-accredited and covers a defined stage of practice — adult assessment, prescribing, ADHD coaching, behavioural support — so that a practitioner can build a portfolio with a shape, not just a total.