Mental Health & Neurodiversity Clinic
Connected Minds is a Nurse Practitioner-led clinic offering neurodiversity-informed mental health care grounded in connection. We focus on understanding the whole person — their strengths, challenges, family and whānau, culture, and goals — so care is meaningful, respectful, and responsive to real life.
We offer assessment and treatment options for neurodevelopmental and psychiatric issues for those aged 5 through to 24 years.
This includes:
- ADHD Assessment & Treatment
- Mental Health Assessment & Care
- Neurodevelopmental assessments (including autism screening and differential assessment)
- Medication Initiation & Monitoring (where clinically appropriate)
- Family & Parent Support
We are not a crisis service. If there is immediate risk, call 111 or your local crisis team.
How It Works In 5 Simple Steps
Jam Jones, MN, NP
Nurse Practitioner | Founder/Director, Connected Minds
Clinical background:
- Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)
- Adult acute and community mental health
- Perinatal and maternal mental health
- Neurodiversity and ADHD assessment, diagnosis, and treatment
Meet The Founder
Jam Jones is a specialist Child and Adolescent Nurse Practitioner working with children, young adults and their whanau from a private clinic based in Warkworth. She has extensive experience working across child, adolescent, adult, and perinatal mental health services in Aotearoa New Zealand.
She began her nursing training in the Philippines and completed her Bachelor of Nursing in New Zealand, followed by a Master of Nursing. She qualified as a Nurse Practitioner in 2023 and practise within full authorised NP scope.
Connected Minds was established to provide timely, thorough, and compassionate care for individuals and families who are navigating neurodevelopmental and mental health challenges. Her approach is neuroaffirming, whānau-centred, trauma-informed, and evidence-based, with a strong emphasis on collaboration and clarity.
She believes meaningful assessment goes beyond symptoms — it requires understanding the person, their family, their culture, and their environment.
Her role is to help people make sense of their experiences and to support practical, sustainable pathways forward.
Jam is a NPNZ College of Nurses Aoteoroa, The Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH), Australian and New Zealand Mental Health Association (ANZMH), Australian ADHD Professionals Association (AADPA), Attention Deficit Disorder Association (ADDA) and The International Marce Society for Perinatal Mental Health.
What Is a Nurse Practitioner?
A Nurse Practitioner (NP) is an advanced practice registered nurse with postgraduate education, extensive clinical experience, and advanced clinical authority.
In New Zealand, Nurse Practitioners:
- Are registered and regulated by the Nursing Council of New Zealand
- Practise autonomously within an approved scope
- Can conduct comprehensive assessments
- Can diagnose health conditions
- Can prescribe medications
- Hold full clinical and legal accountability for care provided
At Connected Minds, care is delivered by a Mental Health Nurse Practitioner practising at full authorised scope, with responsibilities comparable to medical practitioners within the mental health domain.