ADHD in adults. Assessment and therapy.
You function. Most of the time it looks fine from the outside. What nobody sees is what it costs you: the lists, the reminders, the catching up in the evening, the constant tension of being about to forget something.
Many people do not arrive at the question until their mid-thirties or forties: could ADHD be behind this exhaustion? I offer both parts: the assessment and, if you want it, the treatment that follows. You can also do only the first part.
A lifetime of trying harder.
“You just need to try harder.” You have probably heard that sentence a great many times, and at some point you started saying it to yourself. You built systems, set alarms, worked into the night. It worked, and it used you up.
Then there is the part almost no one connects with ADHD from the outside: tasks that pile up and only move at the last minute. Feelings that arrive faster than you can respond to them, and are gone again just as fast. And a quiet, permanent suspicion that you are not enough.
A diagnostic assessment does not resolve any of that by itself. What it does give you is an explanation that fits what you have lived through, and a treatment can be built on that.
What many people recognise in themselves.
Putting things off even when they matter. You know exactly what needs doing and still cannot get started, often not until the last minute.
Exhaustion from compensating. Structure does not come naturally to you. You rebuild it every day, and that energy is then missing somewhere else.
Feelings at full volume. Anger, hurt, enthusiasm arrive fast and strong. What often follows is shame about your own reaction.
Inner restlessness rather than fidgeting. In adulthood, hyperactivity often shows up as feeling driven, as difficulty doing nothing, or as thoughts circling in the evening.
Focus is there, it just cannot be steered. Hours of concentration on something interesting does not rule ADHD out. The difficulty lies in directing your attention to wherever it is needed at that moment.
A long history. The signs begin in childhood, even if no one gave them that name at the time. That is exactly why the assessment looks back.
How the assessment actually works.
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Beforehand: questionnaires and school reports
You receive questionnaires and fill them in at home, in your own time. I also ask you to dig out your old school reports; they are often very good evidence of how things were back then.
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History-taking appointment, 30 minutes
We clarify what brings you here, what is hard in everyday life and what you hope an assessment will give you. This is also where we decide whether a full assessment is the right thing at all.
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Structured interview, 90 minutes
The structured interview goes through the criteria one by one, for adulthood and for childhood. It is thorough and at times tiring. It is the part that carries the diagnosis.
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Feedback appointment with a written report
We go through the results together, I put them in context, and you receive a written report. You can take it with you: to a doctor's practice, to the next step in treatment, or simply for yourself.
Therapy after the diagnosis.
A diagnosis is not yet a treatment plan. What helps afterwards is structure that fits you: not systems out of self-help books, but routines and simplifications that work with your mind instead of against it.
We look closely at where it stalls: starting, staying with it or stopping. That is where we work, rather than on discipline in general. Alongside that comes emotion regulation: widening the gap between trigger and reaction. This can be learned, and it often shows directly in relationships.
After decades of being told you are lazy or unreliable, some of it sticks. That is the part that takes longest. And the part that makes the biggest difference.
And then everyday life around it, where ADHD actually costs you something: work, relationship, money, sleep.
What it costs. Before the first appointment.
- Assessment Three appointments plus questionnaires and a written report. I offer the assessment as a self-pay service; it is not billed to your insurer. 590 €
- Individual therapy, 50 minutes Billed under the German fee schedule for psychotherapists (GOP), at 2.3 times the standard rate. The amount depends on which services the session involves. Self-payers: 167.58 €. 134.06–167.58 €
- Who pays For the therapy: private health insurance, Beihilfe (the reimbursement scheme for German civil servants) and self-payment. People with statutory insurance via Kostenerstattung, the reimbursement route under § 13 (3) SGB V.
- Assessment without therapy You can have the assessment and then decide whether and where to begin therapy. Continuing with me is not a requirement.
- Setting The first appointment takes place at the practice in Frankfurt. Further appointments are possible at the practice or by video; video sessions are billed at the same rates.
- Languages Assessment and therapy in German, English and Farsi, including the written report.
Private health insurers and Beihilfe usually reimburse the therapy under the GOP in conjunction with the GOÄ (the fee schedule for physicians); the exact scope depends on your insurance. I tell you in advance which services will be charged, so you can clarify it before the first appointment.
What people ask before they get in touch.
Is 40 too late for a diagnosis?
Do I need a psychiatrist for this?
Do I need medication?
How is the assessment billed?
How long does the whole thing take?
What if it turns out not to be ADHD?
I did an online self-test. Is that enough?
Clarify first, decide afterwards.
If you are unsure whether an assessment makes sense for you, write and tell me roughly what it is about. I will get back to you within two working days. If I am not the right person for you, I will say so and suggest someone better suited.
Request an appointmentThe practice opens on 1 November 2026. You can request appointments for the first weeks from now on.