Understanding Client ADHD Worksheets

PROJECT OVERVIEW

This resource has both Client and Counselor Worksheets that use neutral, first-person ADHD-adjacent scenarios that invite the client to “step into” the situation and describe if/ how/ and when it fits their lived experience. The client version helps individuals map patterns of attention, motivation, stress, masking, and environment without assuming a specific identity, family belief system, or treatment stance. The counselor version provides examples of open-ended questions that prioritize strengths-based language, and context, to help understand the client and their experience, before entering the strategies and intervention phases of counseling.

This approach is grounded in research emphasizing that ADHD understanding and support are shaped by culture, family meaning, and systems such as schools and workplaces. Dong et al. (2020) highlight the need for culturally responsive ADHD practices within multi-tiered systems of support and the importance of collaboration and adaptation across contexts. The worksheet translates this into dialogue starters that can help counselors explore how expectations, access to resources, and prior experiences with institutions may be shaping a client’s presenting concerns. Pierce and Reid (2004) similarly note that culture can influence both assessment and treatment and may affect identification and engagement with care options.

This resource also aligns with neurodivergence-informed therapy, which encourages reframing neurodevelopmental differences through an environmental lens that emphasizes accommodation, and identity-affirming support rather than typical normalization. In practice, counselors can use these worksheets during client intake, or skills-building sessions to guide collaborative meanings and identify environment-level changes alongside individualized strategies.

APA citations

Chapman, R., & Botha, M. (2023). Neurodivergence-informed therapy. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 65(3), 310–317. doi: 10.1111/dmcn.15384.

Dong, Q., Garcia, B., Pham, A. V., & Cumming, M. (2020). Culturally responsive approaches for addressing ADHD within multi-tiered systems of support. Current Psychiatry Reports, 22(6), 27. doi: 10.1007/s11920-020-01154-3.

Pierce, C. D., & Reid, R. (2004). Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: Assessment and treatment of children from culturally different groups. Seminars in Speech and Language, 25(3), 233–240. doi: 10.1055/s-2004-833671.