ADHD evaluations and evidence-based treatment with in-home concierge services in San Diego and virtual services throughout California.
ADHD can affect attention, behavior, executive functioning, and emotions. Understanding the pattern behind a child’s difficulties can help families determine whether an evaluation is needed and which treatments are most appropriate.
What Is ADHD?
ADHD, or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, is a neurodevelopmental condition that begins in childhood and affects a child’s ability to regulate attention, activity level, and impulse control. There are three main presentations: predominantly inattentive, predominantly hyperactive-impulsive, and combined presentation.
ADHD often involves difficulties with executive functioning. These mental skills help us plan, organize, remember instructions, get started on tasks, shift attention between activities, and pause and think before acting.
Understanding ADHD
When most people think of ADHD, they picture a child who can’t sit still or stay focused. That’s part of it, but plenty of the hardest moments happen elsewhere. Kids with ADHD often have more trouble getting started on homework, following through, remembering instructions, switching from one activity to another, and stopping to think before they act. Frustration can hit fast, and bouncing back when something doesn’t go their way can take a while. Over time, all of this wears on routines, schoolwork, friendships, confidence, and how things go at home. Every child has a different mix of strengths and struggles.
What confuses a lot of parents is that their child can do these things sometimes. One night the math worksheet gets finished without a fuss, and the next night a similar assignment ends in tears. It’s natural to think that if your child managed it once, they could do it every time with enough effort. But ADHD tends to make performance uneven. Your child may know exactly what’s expected and still not be able to pull the skills together at that moment.
Who I Work With
I work with children and families affected by ADHD, including parents who are unsure whether their child’s difficulties are related to ADHD or another condition. ADHD frequently occurs alongside other developmental, emotional, and behavioral diagnoses, including oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), autism, and learning, anxiety, language, tic, and sleep disorders.
Some people use the informal term “AuDHD” for ADHD and autism together, but it is not a separate or newly discovered diagnosis.
Evaluation & Therapy Details
How I Work
Treatment starts with understanding where you and your child are struggling in daily life and why.” From there, therapy can address practical strategies for your child, how you respond in the hard moments, and routines that make it easier for your child to succeed.
My work with parents includes consistent structure and routines, immediate and clear feedback, and breaking tasks into smaller steps. Because ADHD often overlaps with anxiety, autism, executive-functioning challenges, and behavioral concerns, I look at the whole picture when planning treatment.
How I Support Families
I also offer parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT) for children ages 1–10, using age-specific adaptations for toddlers and older children when appropriate. Through live coaching, parents learn practical ways to increase cooperation, reduce conflict, and strengthen the parent–child relationship.
Individual therapy can also play an important role for anxiety, self-esteem struggles, coping skills, or family conflict that can come along with ADHD. The right combination depends on your child’s age and needs.
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What to Expect
We begin by discussing your child’s history, your concerns, and what you would like to change. Together, we choose specific priorities, such as less conflict over homework, smoother mornings, or more cooperation with everyday requests.
Sessions include reviewing what happened during the week, practicing ways to respond, and adjusting strategies that are not working. You will have specific things to try between appointments. We look at progress in your family’s daily life and revise the plan as needed.
ADHD Evaluation and Diagnosis
Families often search for ADHD testing, but ADHD is diagnosed through a clinical evaluation rather than a single test. I offer ADHD evaluations that consider how a child functions across settings.
Depending on your child’s needs, this may include parent and child interviews, standardized parent and teacher rating scales, review of school records, and consideration of anxiety, autism, learning concerns, sleep difficulties, and other factors that may overlap with ADHD.
In-Home Concierge and Virtual Services
In-home concierge sessions in San Diego allow us to work on routines and interactions where they happen. When additional context would be helpful, families may have the option to add an in-home or school observation. Virtual services are available throughout California.
Schedule a consultation to discuss your child’s needs and which service would be a good fit.
