ADHD Assessment DC
For adults who are done wondering. A structured clinical ADHD evaluation by a licensed clinician serving Washington DC and Maryland, built to give you diagnostic clarity instead of another quiz result.
- 90 minfull process
- DSM-5clinical criteria
- $420with feedback
- VirtualDC & Maryland
What is an ADHD assessment?
An ADHD assessment is a structured clinical interview. Charika evaluates your symptoms against DSM-5 criteria, looks at how they show up across your daily life, and forms a diagnostic picture based on what the full conversation reveals. That’s what happens. It isn’t a quiz, and it isn’t a form you fill out in a waiting room.
At Life Migration Therapy this is a clinical diagnostic evaluation, not neuropsychological testing and not a psychometric battery. Those are different services with a different scope. What matters here: Charika holds full diagnostic authority in both Washington DC and Maryland as a licensed clinical social worker. When the evaluation points toward a clear finding, she can name it.
That’s what good mental health care looks like when it’s done right.
Maybe you’ve been carrying this question for a long time.
Many adults who reach out for an ADHD assessment aren’t in crisis. They’re tired. Tired of the gap between how capable they know they are and how things actually go. The tasks that pile up, the deadlines that sneak up, the way a conversation pulls focus in six directions while what matters most sits untouched. A lot of people spend years masking it, building systems and compensating well enough to keep anyone from asking questions. The cost of that is real, and objective evaluation helps cut through it. It helps you stop arguing with yourself about whether what you’re experiencing is real.
For adults who never got diagnosed as children, and especially for women and people of color who got labeled distracted, emotional, or difficult instead of evaluated, this question tends to linger. Or maybe you did well in school, built a career, handled your business, so ADHD felt like it couldn’t apply to you. It might.
High functioning doesn’t mean unburdened. Often the weight was carried quietly.
What this assessment is, and what it isn’t.
The word “evaluation” means different things depending on who you ask. If you need comprehensive neuropsychological testing for legal documentation or disability adjudication, Charika will point you toward someone who provides that. If you need a thorough clinical assessment with a clear answer, this is built for it.
What this is
- A structured clinical interview using DSM-5 diagnostic criteria
- A rating-scale informed evaluation of your ADHD symptoms
- A biopsychosocial assessment of how symptoms affect daily life
- Conducted by a licensed clinical social worker with full diagnostic authority in DC and Maryland
- Delivered via secure telehealth
What this isn’t
- Neuropsychological testing (TOVA, Conners CPT, IQ assessments)
- Psychological testing administered by a licensed psychologist
- A comprehensive battery of cognitive performance measures
- A one-size-fits-all screening checklist
- A test you pass or fail
Two options, one transparent price each.
Evaluation + Feedback
$420- Structured clinical interview
- DSM-5 diagnostic review
- Feedback session included
- Approximately 2 hours total
Evaluation + Feedback + Written Summary
$570- Structured clinical interview
- DSM-5 diagnostic review
- Feedback session included
- Written clinical summary of findings
- Approximately 2 hours total
Both options are self-pay; insurance isn’t accepted for this service. If your plan has out-of-network benefits you may be able to submit for partial reimbursement, and a superbill can be provided on request. Details live on the self-pay mental health services page, and reduced-fee therapy options are on the sliding scale therapy page.
Reaching out is often the hardest part.
If you’re here, something in you is ready, even if the rest of you isn’t sure yet. This form goes directly to Charika, and she typically responds within 1 to 2 business days to schedule a free 15-minute consultation. That phone or video call is a conversation about what you need and whether this feels like the right fit.
Prefer to talk it through first? Call or text 301-244-8219, or book directly through the online calendar.
Prefer to skip the form? Book your free call directly or call or text 301-244-8219.
Start with a message
What happens during your ADHD assessment?
1. The clinical interview
Your history, your patterns, and your current challenges in depth: executive functioning, focus, impulsivity, emotional regulation, time management, and how they show up across work, relationships, and daily life. Standardized rating scales inform the conversation where clinically appropriate. This isn’t a rushed intake appointment.
2. Scoring and clinical review
Charika reviews your responses against DSM-5 criteria, considers alternative explanations, and forms a diagnostic impression from the full clinical picture. ADHD can overlap with anxiety, depression, trauma, and other conditions, so she assesses for that too.
3. The feedback session
You meet to discuss what she found. If ADHD is present, she explains what that means and how it shows up for you specifically. If the clinical picture points somewhere else, she’ll tell you that too. You leave with diagnostic clarity, not a bare result.
The full session runs about 90 minutes. Diagnostic clarity takes the time it takes.
An ADHD assessment from someone who understands.
ADHD presents differently in adults than in children. It presents differently again in Black adults, in immigrants, in women, in people who learned early that they had to hold it together no matter what. Symptoms that get flagged immediately in one context get reframed as attitude, laziness, or personality in others. High-achieving adults who found workarounds get told they are fine, just stressed.
Charika White, LICSW, LCSW-C, is a licensed clinical social worker dual-licensed in Washington DC and Maryland who works with adults who have been dismissed, misread, or never given space to understand what is actually happening for them. As a queer, Black, first-generation Caribbean woman, she knows what it means to move through systems that were not designed with you in mind. That understanding shapes how she assesses, how she listens, and how she delivers feedback. You won’t have to translate your experience.
Curious about her fuller story? Visit the about Charika page, or explore culturally affirming therapy with a Black female therapist in DC.
What happens after the assessment?
Getting assessed isn’t the end of the process. If the evaluation supports an ADHD diagnosis, you leave with a clinical picture that has language, context, and direction.
- Bring it to your primary care provider or a psychiatrist to explore whether stimulant or non-stimulant medication might help
- Use it to pursue workplace accommodations where relevant
- Or simply use it to understand yourself in ways years of wondering could not
Proper treatment for ADHD looks different for every person. Some pursue medication, some pursue ongoing therapy, coaching, or structural changes at work. Some want all of it. The assessment gives you the information to decide with clarity rather than guessing. And if the exhaustion arrived before the answers, her guide to neurodivergent burnout explains why rest alone rarely repairs it.
ADHD assessment questions, answered.
What is an ADHD assessment?
An ADHD assessment is a structured clinical evaluation that determines whether attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is present based on your symptoms, history, and how challenges show up across your daily life. At Life Migration Therapy, this is a clinical diagnostic interview using DSM-5 criteria, not a neuropsychological testing battery.
How much does an ADHD assessment cost?
The Evaluation plus Feedback session is $420. The Evaluation plus Feedback plus Written Summary is $570. Both are self-pay. Insurance isn’t accepted, though a superbill can be provided for potential out-of-network reimbursement.
How long does the assessment take?
The full process runs approximately 90 minutes and includes the clinical interview, diagnostic review, and feedback discussion. The written summary option includes clinical documentation prepared after the session.
Is this the same as ADHD testing or a neuropsychological evaluation?
No. Neuropsychological testing involves cognitive performance measures, IQ assessments, and standardized psychometric batteries typically administered by licensed psychologists. This is a clinical diagnostic evaluation, interview-based and rating-scale informed, conducted by a licensed clinical social worker with full diagnostic authority in Washington DC and Maryland. Different service, different scope.
Do you take insurance?
The ADHD assessment is self-pay only. If your plan has out-of-network benefits, you may be eligible to submit for partial reimbursement. A superbill can be provided on request.
Can I get a written report for workplace or school accommodations?
The $570 option includes a written clinical summary of findings. Whether a specific institution accepts that document for accommodations purposes depends on their requirements. I can tell you what the summary includes; I can’t guarantee how a third party will use it.
Can you prescribe ADHD medication?
No. As a licensed clinical social worker, I assess and diagnose. I don’t prescribe. During your feedback session, we can talk through whether connecting with a prescriber makes sense for you and what that process typically looks like.
What does the feedback session cover?
The feedback session is a real conversation. We walk through what the evaluation found, what it means for you specifically, and what next steps look like based on your goals, whether that’s medication, therapy, accommodations, or finally having language for what you’ve been experiencing.
Do you assess children?
The ADHD assessment is for adults only. This service is scoped to how ADHD presents in adults, not children, and is offered by secure telehealth across Washington DC and Maryland.
Can I do this entirely online?
Yes, the ADHD assessment happens entirely online. Every session, including the clinical interview and feedback session, happens over secure telehealth, and you can attend from anywhere in Washington DC or Maryland.
What if I have had a successful career or good grades? Can I still have ADHD?
Yes. Many adults with ADHD spend years developing workarounds that allow them to function well on the surface. High achievement doesn’t disqualify you from a thorough evaluation. It often means the cost of managing without a diagnosis has been carried quietly for a long time.
What do I do after the assessment?
What you do after the ADHD assessment depends on what the evaluation finds. If ADHD is present, your feedback session walks through what that means and what options exist, including medication conversations with a prescriber, therapy, accommodations, or other support. If the picture points elsewhere, we’ll talk through that too. You won’t leave without a direction.
Done wondering? Let’s find out what’s actually going on.
One free 15-minute call is all it takes to see if this assessment fits. Come exactly as you are.
