If you have questions regarding ADHD and are considering an assessment, it can be challenging to know where to start. This article outlines options for pursuing an ADHD assessment in Alberta, and highlights some important things to consider, to help you navigate the decision making process. By the end of this article, you’ll understand the options for pursuing an ADHD assessment; what makes a professional the right fit for you; and the steps involved in the ADHD assessment process.
If you are a resident in Alberta and would prefer to speak with someone directly, please feel free to schedule a brief phone consultation. As a psychologist specializing in ADHD, I am happy to answer your questions and walk you through the assessment process.
ADHD Assessment: Understanding Your Options
Table of Contents
1. Who can provide an ADHD Diagnosis?
1.1. Public Healthcare Options
1.2. Private Clinic Options
1.3. About Online Self-Assessment Tools
2. Choosing the Right Professional to Conduct Your ADHD Assessment
2.1. What If I was Assessed in the Past, and Did Not Receive a Diagnosis?
3. Finding a Trained Professional
3.1. Consult with Your Primary Care Physician
3.2. Ask Your Insurance Provider
3.3. Research Online for More Qualified Options in Your Area
4. Comprehensive ADHD Assessments: The Process
4.1. Initial Intake Appointment & Diagnostic Clinical Interview
4.2. Developing Assessment Plan
4.3. Scoring & Analysis of Results
5. Feedback Meeting & Understanding Results
6. ADHD Symptom Management
7. What to Do Next
There are two primary options for pursuing an ADHD assessment in Alberta: public healthcare and private practice. Physicians, psychiatrists, and psychologists can provide ADHD assessments; finding the best option for you is important.
Public Healthcare Options
In Alberta, you could start by consulting with your family physician regarding your concerns. If this is an area they work in, your physician may complete the appropriate screening and provide a diagnosis (if applicable). If not, they may refer you to another physician, psychiatrist or other mental health services for further evaluation. Alberta Health Services generally covers the costs of working with a family physician or psychiatrist.
Pros of Public Healthcare Assessments
Cost-Effective: One advantage of this option is financial, as consultations with family physicians and psychiatrists under the public health system are generally covered.
Medical Management: Physicians and psychiatrists are qualified to facilitate medication trials following an ADHD diagnosis, if this feels like the right choice for you.
Private Clinic Options
Many private psychologists offer comprehensive ADHD assessments. These services are typically not covered by provincial health care and are considered fee-for-service. If you have extended health care coverage, a substantial portion of the fees may be covered.
Pros of Private Assessments
In-Depth Evaluation: Private assessments generally involve thorough clinical interviews and integrate information from a number of sources.
Shorter Wait Times: Private practices often have shorter wait times for assessment services, and subsequent symptom management and support.
Documentation: Private practice clinicians will generally provide a comprehensive assessment report, including recommendations and a detailed intervention plan. This can be helpful with symptom management and navigating the path froward, following a diagnosis.
Online Self-Assessment Tools
There are many online screening measures for ADHD that can be helpful in determining if you or your child present with the core symptoms of ADHD.
It is important to consider that online screening tools are not diagnostic in nature. Completing screening measures is just one piece of a comprehensive ADHD assessment.
A comprehensive ADHD assessment helps us understand core symptoms as well as the impact or impairment that results from the symptoms that screening tools may identify.
Whether pursuing an assessment privately, or through your health care provider, working with someone who specializes in ADHD is important. Reviewing the practice website and asking questions regarding a clinician’s areas of specialization are important when determining the best fit for you.
Here is some relevant information regarding my clinical practice:
- 10 years of experience working with ADHD across the lifespan
- Direct experience in both private and shared care models, working with clients on symptom management across multiple pillars: Medication, Strategies, Lifestyle and Education
- Experience working with clients with ADHD and co-occurring conditions such as anxiety, depression and learning disabilities, how these can be interrelated, and affect different areas of an individual’s life
- I offer services beyond delivering a diagnosis, to support clients at different stages of their ADHD journey
- I view ADHD in its totality, through a holistic approach to assessment and symptom management
What If I Was Assessed in the Past, and Did Not Receive a Diagnosis?
I believe people come to the assessment process and receive a diagnosis at the right time for them. ADHD is more than a checklist of symptoms, we need to see meaningful, measurable, functional impact of those symptoms over a prolonged period. With a broader perspective and more thorough assessment, an ADHD diagnosis may be clearer.
When exploring options for finding a trained professional to perform an ADHD assessment, here are a number of approaches:
- Consult your primary care physician
- Ask your insurance provider
- Search online for additional qualified options in your area
Consult with Your Primary Care Physician
Your physician may be able to complete the assessment themselves. They can also provide referrals to specialists such as psychiatrists or psychologists who are qualified to diagnose ADHD.
Ask Your Insurance Provider
Insurance companies often have a list of covered professionals who can conduct ADHD assessments. Insurance providers can also offer information about the qualifications and specializations of the listed professionals, helping you make a more informed choice.
Search Online for Qualified Options in Your Area
Online directories of psychologists and psychiatrists can help you find the right professional who specializes in ADHD. You can also find websites of private practices like Inspire Psychological.
A comprehensive assessment involves a series of steps; collecting information from a number of sources.
- Initial intake appointment & diagnostic clinical interview
- Develop an assessment plan and timeline that works for you
- File review (academic records, previous assessment reports, performance reviews)
- Completion of questionnaires & rating scales
- Interview with family members, friends, etc.
- Scoring & analysis of results for assessment report
- Feedback meeting to review the assessment results & recommendations
Initial Intake Appointment & Diagnostic Clinical Interview
Before beginning the interview process, we review confidentiality & limitations, and discuss the purpose of our session.
The Clinical Interview
When discussing your concerns, it can be challenging to know where to begin, or you may worry about missing important information. We will start with discussing what brings you here, the things that feel most concerning to you, and what you are seeking support with.
What you share gives me information to direct follow up questions for a detailed history to understand your attention profile. Common areas we explore include:
- Childhood history
- Education
- Employment
- Family
- Relationships
- Mental health
We want to attend to the nuances and the impact of the symptoms by having a full picture and understanding where attention fits within all of this.
Once the interview is complete, we discuss assessment options and how we might work together. Next steps in the intake appointment include:
- Developing an assessment plan
- Establishing a timeline
The initial intake & diagnostic clinical interview typically requires an hour and a half to complete.
Developing an Assessment Plan
Following the clinical interview, an assessment plan typically includes three components:
File review: academic records, performance reviews, and all other files we deem valuable for getting multiple perspectives.
Questionnaires & rating scales: I use many different questionnaires & rating scales to help get a fuller picture for an accurate diagnosis. For more information on rating scales.
Follow-up Interviews with family, teachers etc.: Sometimes it is helpful to interview a teacher or spouse, to get additional information from multiple perspectives. Follow-up interviews are not always required and are scheduled as needed.
Part of developing the assessment plan during the initial interview is creating a checklist and series of deadlines so there’s a clear, step by step process for completing the assessment.
The checklist and deadlines are confirmed electronically with a confirmation email after our initial intake and diagnostic interview.
Scoring & Analysis of Assessment Results
Once we’ve collected all the information, I integrate information from interviews, reports, questionnaires, and rating scales, into a clinical formulation.
The assessment process from initial interview to delivering the results generally requires four weeks. We will establish an assessment timeline that works for you at our initial appointment.
ADHD is an attention style, and we all have one. If we can understand our attention style and learn to work with it, instead of against it, we can reduce the barriers that many people attribute to an ADHD diagnosis.
During our feedback meeting, we spend the first 15 minutes discussing what ADHD is (and what it is not), to set a foundation for the remainder of the appointment.
We spend the next 45 minutes talking about effective symptom management, and walking through the four pillars, to create a roadmap for navigating next steps. The goal of this appointment is for you to understand the assessment outcome and leave with a clear plan for navigating next steps.
I believe that living and thriving with ADHD is a lifelong journey, that involves taking many small steps in a unified direction over time. When we try to make too many changes all at once it’s often not sustainable and can leave us feeling frustrated and discouraged.
Effective ADHD symptom management is multidimensional. At our feedback meeting we talk through the options, and what might be the best fit for you.
If you have additional questions, or are interested in discussing assessment options, please feel free to schedule a 15 minute phone consultation.