Second opinions, treatment troubleshooting & transferring your care

Enquire about an appointment — call 1800 343 191

For children from age 4, adolescents and adults. Your appointments are personally with Dr Chris Soo.

Already diagnosed, but still struggling?

You may have already put a lot of effort into getting help. Tried treatment. Done what was asked. And still feel that something isn’t quite right.

Perhaps treatment has been underwhelming. Or the opposite—far too intense. Maybe it helps with some things, but leaves you feeling unlike yourself.

Perhaps you didn’t quite connect with the clinician you saw, and you’re looking for a different approach.

Everyone else seems to be raving about their ADHD medication. So why isn’t it working that way for you?

That doesn’t mean you haven’t tried hard enough. It means it’s worth taking the time to understand why.

You don’t have to have worked out what’s wrong before you come. Here, we’ll work through it carefully—together.

You deserve the time and care it takes to get this right.

Let’s make sense of it together

Your experience is our starting point: what has helped, what hasn’t, what feels difficult, and what you most want to be different.

Sometimes treatment needs refining. Sometimes sleep, mood, anxiety, physical health or other parts of life are getting tangled up with ADHD. Often, we need to understand how these things fit together before deciding what to change.

Evidence guides our care. Your history, response to treatment and priorities shape the plan. There is room to ask questions, talk through concerns, and say, “Actually, that isn’t what it feels like for me.”

A second opinion—with a plan to move forward

We’ll review your previous assessment and treatment, look for what may have been missed, and work out what needs attention. Then we’ll put that understanding to use: making treatment decisions together, working through changes carefully, and following up to see whether they’re helping.

If the first change doesn’t help, we’ll look at what that tells us and decide what to try next.

Why see Chris when things are complicated?

Complex problems don’t always fit neatly into one box.

Dr Chris Soo is a specialist GP whose work brings together ADHD and neurodevelopmental care, mental health, and a broad medical background. That breadth is particularly useful when symptoms overlap, treatment responses are unexpected, or several things seem to be affecting one another.

Chris takes the time to listen, takes your concerns seriously, and looks for the connections. How do your physical health, sleep, mood, daily demands and treatment fit together? What is helping—and what might be getting in the way?

You’ll work directly with Chris, building a shared understanding over time. If something isn’t helping, or the plan doesn’t feel right, that is part of the conversation.

The consultation is about you. The plan should be, too.

Step 1: Time to understand what’s going on

Your first appointment — 90 minutes

90 minutes · in person or by telehealth

Initial appointments overview · View appointment fees

We’ll talk about why you’re seeking another perspective, what you’ve already tried, and what you most want help with now.

We’ll look at the lifelong pattern as well as how things have been lately. Depending on your situation, that may include:

Your previous assessment and the difficulties it helped explain.
Treatment so far: benefits, side effects, dose, timing, and why things were changed or stopped.
Executive function: initiation, organisation, time blindness and working memory.
Emotional regulation, overwhelm, shutdown and burnout patterns.
Developmental history, key turning points, masking and the ways you have learned to compensate.
Sleep, mood, anxiety and other symptoms, including overlaps that might change how we understand your diagnosis or response to treatment.
Relevant physical health, other medicines and safety considerations.
What life looks like at home, at work or study, and in your relationships.
What you would like to be different—and what is already working that you want to keep.

We won’t necessarily need to explore every area in the same depth. Your history and what comes up in the conversation help guide where we spend the time.

If you already have completed questionnaires, assessment reports or other relevant paperwork, please send these in before your appointment. Contact reception for instructions on how to send them securely. You don’t need to put together a perfect dossier. We can work out what else would be useful.

A clearer direction

We’ll talk through what seems to be happening, what needs further attention, and the next steps.

Sometimes we have enough information to discuss an initial treatment change. Sometimes it’s better to review records, gather more history or check something before making a decision. We’ll explain why, and what we’re working towards.

Personalised questionnaires — after the appointment

If additional questionnaires would help, they’re chosen after our conversation to fit your situation. They help us explore patterns across settings and over time, and overlaps that may affect treatment. Relevant investigations or information from someone who knows you well may also be useful; we’ll explain what would help and why.

Questionnaires support the assessment. They don’t replace the conversation.

You bring your story. We bring the structure to make sense of it.

Step 2: Making sense of it all — results, diagnosis, next steps

60 minutes · in person or by telehealth

Every new patient has a 60-minute second initial appointment, including people seeking a second opinion, troubleshooting treatment or transferring care.

This appointment is where everything comes together. We’ll agree on the timing with you, depending on what information we need and whether we’ve already started or changed treatment.

We will:

review any targeted questionnaire results
review previous assessments, treatment history and any additional information where it improves accuracy — such as school reports, prior clinician letters, or partner and family observations. Not everyone needs the same amount of this, and we try not to let any one test be the be-all and end-all
clarify the diagnosis or diagnoses and explain the formulation in plain language — what’s driving what, and what may help explain why treatment has not worked as expected
build an actionable plan tailored to your life.

Treatment planning
(including medication where appropriate)

We’ll consider what needs attention first and how the different parts of your care fit together. Your history, previous response to treatment, goals and risk profile all help us decide what to try.

That plan may include:

refining the dose, timing or coverage of a medication that is helping
trying a different stimulant or a non-stimulant option, where appropriate
addressing mood, anxiety, sleep or other medical and mental-health needs that are affecting the picture
understanding your brain — discovering its strengths and how to set up life to thrive instead of struggle
practical supports that actually help: systems, sleep, psychological support, workload design and relationship strategies.

If we’re trying or changing medication, we’ll discuss what we hope it will help with, what to watch for, and how we’ll know whether it’s a good fit.

This is a collaborative conversation. You’ll understand the why, not just the what.

You don’t have to agree to everything at once. There’s room to think, ask questions, and work through the plan a step at a time.

What happens next depends on your response — it’s not one size fits all

If it’s working well: we “dial it in” — optimising dose and timing so the benefits are consistent and the trade-offs are minimal.
If it’s not doing what we expected, or it feels unpleasant: we don’t push through blindly. We troubleshoot calmly and systematically; adjusting strategy, checking for overlaps that change response, and where needed trialling a different option.

The aim is a medication approach that works safely and well for you.

Step 3: First review after a treatment change

If it’s right, we refine it. If it’s not, we troubleshoot early, calmly and systematically.

Follow-up appointments: 30 minutes as standard, or 45 minutes if you would like more time. In person or by telehealth, with timing tailored to you.

For more complex concerns, Chris may suggest a 45-minute review, but the choice is yours. If you would like a shorter appointment, please contact admin/reception to discuss your request.

Care continues beyond deciding what to try. If we start or change medication, we usually review within about a month, with earlier review where needed. The timing depends on the change we’re making and how you’re doing.

This first review is mainly about safety and whether treatment is helping:

Safety: side effects, sleep, appetite, mood, anxiety, cardiovascular symptoms, rebound or crash, and any red flags, alongside relevant physical-health checks.
Benefit in everyday life: is it doing what it’s meant to do — improving focus, initiation, emotional regulation and day-to-day functioning in the way we’d expect? We’re looking for meaningful benefit while monitoring and minimising unwanted effects.

We’ll also come back to what brought you here: what still feels difficult, what has changed, and whether the plan is helping with the things that matter to you.

Follow-ups for children and families

Sometimes it helps for parents or carers and their child to speak with Chris separately during a follow-up. If you’d like time for this—including discussing concerns without your child present—a 45-minute appointment may be helpful. You can choose the appointment length that suits you.

Step 4: Finding what works — and keeping it working

The first 3 months

When we’re starting or making changes to treatment, we usually review a bit more closely for the first few months — typically every 4–6 weeks, tailored to you. This is the phase where we:

optimise dose and timing (“dial it in”)
check that benefits are real-world and consistent
monitor side effects and safety markers
pick up early warning signs if something isn’t the right fit.

Why this matters: early follow-up helps us assess benefit, identify unwanted effects and adjust treatment promptly. We continue monitoring over time, including when doses or circumstances change.

Once stable, follow-up becomes individualised. Many people move to 3–6 monthly reviews depending on complexity and treatment needs. If you’re transferring care and treatment is already working well, your review schedule will reflect that.

The goal isn’t frequent appointments—it’s safety, then optimisation. Then we give you room to live.

Getting back to the life you want

The aim is to help you feel well, find stability, and have the energy and headspace to enjoy your life—to be thriving, rather than just getting through.

What that looks like is personal. It might be feeling more settled at school, finding your feet at work, enjoying your relationships, or having room to work towards what matters to you.

If you feel you’ve lost time, that matters, too. We can talk about where you want life to go from here, and work towards it at a pace that feels manageable.

Step 5: Back to your usual doctor — and you are always welcome back

Once things are stable and treatment is working well, the aim is to help you return to your regular GP—or a GP in your neighbourhood—for ongoing care, where appropriate and with their agreement. We’ll provide a clear plan and handover so they know what’s working and what needs monitoring.

If your GP is unsure, we can help make this easier — for example by providing clear written guidance and, where appropriate, being available for a brief clinician-to-clinician discussion to support a safe handover.

If anything changes — life circumstances shift, symptoms flare, medication stops working as expected, side effects emerge, or your GP wants a second set of experienced eyes — you can return for review and troubleshooting.

A note from Chris

“You’re also welcome to stay with me longer term. I love hearing about how people are thriving—what they’re doing, what’s changed, and what life has opened up for them.”

If it has been more than 12 months since you last saw Chris, please call reception to arrange your return appointment rather than booking online, so we can allow enough time.

Let’s work out the right starting point

All initial appointments are arranged by enquiry. Please call reception on 1800 343 191.

Tell us a little about what you’re looking for help with. You don’t need to work out for yourself whether your situation counts as complicated.

Reception will help arrange the appropriate appointment and confirm the fee before you book.