The St Andrews Practice

27/01/2026

Job Advert: Clinical Psychologist - Child Neurodevelopmental Assessment

Position: Self-Employed Associate Clinical Psychologist

Location: St Andrews and/or Dundee

About Us: The St Andrews Practice is an established, HIS regulated, independent specialist mental health and neurodiversity service based in St Andrews, Fife, with a sister practice, The Invertay Practice, in Dundee. Across both practices, we have a growing multi-disciplinary team of over 30 highly qualified, experienced clinicians from varied backgrounds including psychiatry, psychology, occupational therapy, speech & language therapy. Now into our seventh year of operation, we are dedicated to providing high quality, holistic care and support to adults, children, young people and families, both locally and remotely across the UK.

Role Overview: We are seeking skilled Clinical Psychologists to join our children and young people’s team. You will work with a passionate, dynamic team to provide high-quality, multi-disciplinary neurodevelopmental assessments, to deliver evidence based psychological interventions, and will provide consultation for the wider multi-disciplinary team.

Benefits: This role offers flexibility, allowing you to choose part-time or full-time hours that suit your lifestyle and personal circumstances. As a service we prioritise staff wellbeing and offer flexible working patterns, generous pay, inclusive supervision, CPD programme, and training opportunities. Working as an associate gives you the flexibility and independence for work/life balance, whilst still enabling you to do the work you enjoy with the support of an excellent multi-disciplinary team and an established operational infrastructure.

Requirements:
* Proven experience of participating in muti-disciplinary neurodevelopmental diagnostic assessment for children and young people.
* Strong ability to work independently and as part of a team.
* Commitment to providing high-quality, neuro-affirmative care for children and families.
* Registration with appropriate professional bodies.
Interested candidates should send a CV and a cover letter detailing your experience and suitability for the role to: info@thestandrewspractice.com

16/01/2026

National Autistic Society Scotland (NASS) is campaigning for compulsory training for teachers in how to support children with autism.

This article in today’s BBC news, which happens to feature my younger sister bravely talking about her experience of being a misunderstood autistic teenager, also highlights important points for professionals involved in neurodevelopmental assessment.

Teachers don’t always understand or recognise neurodivergence, especially in academically able high-masking females. Just because school doesn’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not there, and that alone should never be a reason to rule out a neurodevelopmental diagnosis without further exploration.

Diagnostic criteria states that traits must be present across settings….that doesn’t mean across reporters. If a young person describes masking and internalised autistic experiences at school, that is evidence of autism in a school setting. There are tools that can help clinicians assess this information. We need to ensure diagnostic assessments are not a formulaic tick box exercise, but think critically and ask the right questions so that young people get the support they often desperately need.

Becca Galloway says the condition is often misunderstood and she wants teachers to receive mandatory autism training.

04/12/2025

Today we heard that the UK Government is launching commission into increased demand for ADHD and autism services - AKA the "overdiagnosis commission”.

Just months ago, the government received the extensive final report from the independent task force on ADHD, which concluded that the evidence overwhelmingly states that ADHD is significantly under-diagnosed, and that improved access to services is desperately needed. The evidence for years has indicated that early identification and intervention improves outcomes across health, social care, employment, prisons and education, generating long term savings. The decision so spend more money on another commission clearly highlights that they want to come up with a different answer because the truth is politically inconvenient in the short term.

Over-diagnosis is an excuse to point the finger back at people who need support…nothing new there.

“The idea that you can achieve overdiagnosis with an average wait of nearly a decade is just preposterous”

Meanwhile over 8 million people are prescribed anti-depressants with dubious outcomes, children continue to miss out on vital educational opportunities, and mental health spirals with often tragic consequences.

Worryingly, the media continues to circulate widespread misinformation that puts up further barriers to people accessing what little support is now available.

10/11/2025

In our latest blog post Dr Lelanie Brewer, Highly Specialist OT, talks about the benefits of supporting children to develop their motor skills and the positive ripple effect this can have on other parts of their lives.

When a child struggles with motor skills—whether it’s tying shoelaces, catching a ball, or writing neatly—these challenges can ripple out into many parts of their daily life. That’s where paediatric occupational therapy (OT) comes in, offering tailored, playful, and evidence-based support. T...

31/07/2025

* Neurodivergent adolescents experience twice the emotional burden at school compared to neurotypical peers (if they can tolerate even being there)

* We need to focus on changing harmful environments rather than expecting students to tolerate them

* We need to honour each student's individuality rather than glorifying conformity to one-size-fits-all expectations

22/05/2025

We very much enjoyed welcoming Dr Simona Stokes yesterday for a team training day focused on menopause. Our own lead consultant, Dr Helen Simonsen, gave us an initial overview of hormones and HRT, with Simona focusing on mental health and holistic interventions, in line with her Menopause Informed CBT framework, EMBERS.

There were some interesting discussions and I think the day has given the team a lot of food for thought in terms of how we assess, formulate and provide holistic interventions in ways that encompass the extensive and often complex experiences of menopause stages. Our primarily neurodivergent client group often experience the impact of hormonal changes more profoundly, so this is an area in which we are committed to further developing our range of high quality holistic services.

As a society we have been failing women and their families for too long. Menopause-Informed Psychological Care is ESSENTIAL to support women during the menopausal transition. Please consider Simona’s training if you are interested in developing your own practice in this area.

Access professional training in menopause and mental health. Learn EMBERS® CBT for menopause to tailor CBT therapy for depression, anxiety, sleep issues, etc related to menopause. Training ideal for psychologists, counsellors, coaches, etc. looking to develop skills to help women during menopause.

13/05/2025

28/03/2025

It was great to have MSP for Northeast Fife Willie Rennie visit The St Andrews Practice today. We had some interesting discussions about mental health and neurodiversity and very much enjoyed showing him around the practice.

12/03/2025

https://thestandrewspractice.com/service-update-march-2025/

It’s been a long time since our last blog post. We’ve been busy!

11/03/2025

Our service is expanding, and we are looking for new clinicians to join our thriving specialist multi-disciplinary mental health and neurodiversity service. We have opportunities at both of our clinics: The St Andrews Practice in North-East Fife, and The Invertay Practice in central Dundee.

We are an eclectic and supportive team of 27 experienced clinicians, with collective passion for supporting and advocating for neurodivergent individuals at all stages of life. We value and promote staff wellbeing and offer a range of staff benefits, CPD, admin support, and clinical supervision. We offer competitive rates, flexible working hours, high quality clinic rooms, and reliable referral streams.

We are currently recruiting to clinical associate positions in the following areas (these are self-employed positions with varying hours).

Within our growing children and young people’s MDT neuro-developmental assessment service, we are keen to hear from clinicians with experience of assessing autism and ADHD in under 18’s:

- Consultant Psychiatrists (remote and/or in-person in St Andrews)
- Clinical Psychologists (part-time in St Andrews and/or Dundee)

Within our established adult MDT neuro-developmental assessment service we are keen to hear from clinicians with experience of assessing autism and ADHD in adults:

- Clinical Psychologists (part-time in St Andrews and/or Dundee)

See who we are here:
www.thestandrewspractice.com
www.theinvertaypractice.com

Please email us a CV or contact us for further information on: info@thestandrewspractice.com

We are a team of specialist clinicians including: Clinical Psychologists; Occupational Therapists; Speech & Language Therapists and more

01/03/2025

The commentary below is given by prominent ADHD advocate Dr Tony Lloyd.

“A thought provoking but fundamentally flawed hypotheses on the escalation of ADHD diagnoses by Neurologist Suzanne O’Sullivan in today’s Guardian Saturday Magazine March 1st.

400% increase is statistically correct but belies the fact that only 12% of children & adults with ADHD access medication - Fact. ADHD remains significantly under diagnosed in the UK. While many with ADHD do not identify as ‘disordered’ the vulnerability to psychological & physical health problems are exacerbated by environmental factors. ‘Context Matters’ - such as an outdated education system resulting pervasive & harmful anxiety & elevated stress hormones that impact not only on cognitive functioning but also immune functioning. Also the research on women and ADHD & how this impacts on hormones, PMT, menopause & post natal depression are not mentioned when we know there is significant gender bias with 3 males to every female diagnosed.

Not everyone wants a formal diagnosis and not everyone wants medication. Living successfully requires lifestyle changes & self care - & reliable public health information - which is sadly lacking. Terms like ‘mild ADHD’ &’severe ADHD’ are misleading as context & adverse life events can lessen or exacerbate how ADHD can impact on someone’s life, wellbeing, relationships, employability & economic independence.

I understand the argument of not over pathologising - but please don’t add to the already unnaceptable inequalities experienced by the ADHD population & the inequity of access to health services; - & for children, - a school culture that systematically excludes them in myriad ways. ADHD is a naturally occurring expression of the diversity in human neuro cognitive functioning & potential, - well managed it can be an advantage in some aspects of life ( eg 29% of entrepreneurs are ADHD) but it remains a challenging neuro type to live with successfully. Why do we keep hearing the same narrative in the media that routinely dismisses the reality of ADHD? - Is that tired old narrative really ‘news’? A neurodiversity paradigm postulates such differences in neurocognitive functioning have an evolutionary purpose; difference is the universal design. Thinking differently should be celebrated as it is in Neurodiversity Celebration Week 17th March 2025. Inclusive societies would have no need to pathologise.”

07/01/2025

A few photos of our St Andrews refurb which took place over the Christmas holidays, as this is the only point in the year we close the building (aside from Sundays). We also have a lovely new room, specifically for work with children, young people and families. Clinics resumed yesterday for 2025. We are looking forward to another busy year ahead!