Gordon qualified as a Registered Mental Health Nurse (RMN) in 1992 and then spent the next 25 years working in Child & Adolescent Mental Health (CAMHS). He has a BSc (Hons) Nursing with the Specialist Practitioner Qualification in Child & Adolescent Mental Health. These qualifications, along with his Independent Nurse Prescribing qualification can be found on the NMC website.
During his time in Forth Valley CAMHS, Gordon developed the first UK ADHD nurse-led service, whereby he independently assessed, diagnosed, and treated children with ADHD. This pioneering model is now seen across the UK, and you will find many nurses at the forefront of leading ADHD services as a result of Gordon’s early work.
Gordon is considered by many to be the most experienced ADHD clinician in Scotland, and he has won awards for his ADHD Degree module at the University of Stirling and his ADHD specific parent training programme, Parents INC™️, which has recently been researched by the University of Glasgow and the first piece of research on the programme was published in September 2025.
Helping raise awareness of ADHD is of paramount importance to Gordon and to this end, he has been involved in a number of research projects, has several publications and has presented at many national and international conferences on ADHD.
Gordon has been seeing private patients since 2008 and later launched ADHD Direct in 2017. Back then, he was a one man show. In only a few years, he has grown ADHD Direct to become the biggest neurodevelopmental service in Scotland with a large clinical and support team looking after over thousands of patients.
Seeing children and adults since 2008 has provided Gordon with a unique knowledge of ADHD and has helped him recognise the importance of offering a whole of life service as for the majority diagnosed with ADHD, it is a life-long condition.
As well as Parents INC™️, Gordon has developed other programmes, including the ADHD teacher training programme, Teachers COUNT™️. He is also the author of the adult ADHD programme, Still Me™️, which will be launch in early 2026, and he regularly speak at national and international conferences on the subject of ADHD.
He has a regular podcast called, ‘Gordon Brown Has ADHD’, which can be found on Apple Podcast and Youtube.
Gordon’s list of qualifications to date include:
1992. Western College of Nursing,
Glasgow: Registered Mental Health Nurse (RMN)(Nursing & Midwifery Council)
1995. Lothian College of Health
Studies, Edinburgh: Professional Studies II: Child & Family Psychiatry, Therapeutic Management and Wider Issues
2001. EMDR Institute: Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) Level 1
2001. University of Queensland Australia: Positive Parenting Programme (Triple P). Level 4 Group Triple P
2001. University of Qeensland Australia: Positive Parenting Programme (Triple P). Level 4 Teen Triple P
2002. Napier University Edinburgh: BSc (Hons) Child and Adolescent Mental Health (Specialist Practitioner Qualification)
2004. Independent Nurse Prescriber (Nursing & Midwifery Council)
2006. University of Edinburgh: Certificate in Interpersonal Psychotherapy
2008. Certificate in Diagnostic Interview for Communication Disorders (DISCO)
2014. Certificate in Autism Diagnostic Interview Schedule (ADOS 2)
2025. Certificate in Coaching
2025. Certificate in Autism Diagnostic Interview (ADI-R)
Gordon’s Employment History:
Staff Nurse D Grade. Adolescent Unit, Gartnavel Royal Hospital, Glasgow. 1992 – 1993
Staff Nurse E Grade. Adolescent Unit, Gartnavel Royal Hospital, Glasgow. 1993 – 1994
Charge Nurse F Grade. Adolescent Unit, Gartnavel Royal Hospital, Glasgow. 1994 – 1995
Nurse Therapist G Grade. Yorkhill Hospital, Glasgow. 1995 – 1997
Clinical Nurse Specialist H Grade. Forth Valley NHS. 1997 – 2001
Mental Health Clinician. Lanarkshire NHS. 2001 – 2002
Teaching Fellow. University of Stirling. 2006 – 2011
Consultant Nurse (secondment). Care Inspectorate. January 2013 – July 2014
Mental Health Practitioner. Forth Valley NHS. 2002 – April 2017
Consultant Nurse / CEO. ADHD Direct Ltd – April 2017 – Present
Health Adviser to the Ombudsman. SPSO. January 2017 – 2022.
Gordon’s Publications:
Brown, G (2003) Assessment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder MacMillan Publishing Ltd Nursing Times Volume: 99, Issue: 25, Page Number: 34 2003
Brown, G and Bruce, K (2004) A Nurse-led ADHD service for children and adolescents MacMillan Publishing Ltd Nursing Times Volume: 100, Issue: 40, Page Number: 36 2004
Forbes, F; Barber, P; Brown, G; Coghill D; Hoare P et al (2007) ADHD – Services Over Scotland, Report of the service profiling exercise Quality Improvement Scotland March 2007
Forbes, F; Barber, P; Brown, G; Coghill D; Hoare P et al (2008) ADHD – Services Over Scotland, Report of the service review exercise Quality Improvement Scotland April 2008
Follan, M; Minnis, H; Brown, G et al, (2010) Discrimination between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and reactive attachment disorder in school aged children Research in Developmental Disabilities (2011), doi:10.1016/ j.ridd.2010.12.031
Brown, G; Murray, I (2010) An online degree module to increase awareness and understanding of ADHD ADHD In Practice (2010), Volume 3, Number 1
Read what Gordon’s Patients say:
“I can’t praise the ADHD Clinic enough. Gordon and all the staff have helped our family immensely, especially through the process of my son’s diagnosis and treatment. Our experience has only been positive.”
“Gordon is an absolute legend. You will never meet anyone else with the knowledge he has.
I wish I could discuss it with him all day every day now that he’s helped me understand it.
Please remember though he is Private and is not always available to answer your questions.
I would always advise after you get your copy of your diagnosis to actually spend time reading it and understanding it, that alone with his wording will always help.”
“I would like you to know that I think you are the most professional, thorough, and caring team and Gordon’s knowledge of ADHD is second to none.
I know how vigorously you tested my child and I 100% would not hesitate to recommend you to anyone and indeed have done in the past. Since you diagnosed my child almost two years ago now with ADHD his life has improved immeasurably and I cannot thank Gordon enough for this.
We will be forever grateful.”
– Amanda