ADHD Counseling, Testing & Evaluation in Des Moines, IA
One clinician, one relationship, from your first phone call through evaluation, feedback, and the ongoing counseling that comes after.
Book a Free Des Moines ADHD Consultation →More People in Des Moines Are Asking Than You'd Think
Nationally, roughly 1 in 9 children have been diagnosed with ADHD at some point, and current estimates put around 15.5 million American adults living with a diagnosis today, close to half of them not identified until well into adulthood. There's no reason to assume Des Moines looks meaningfully different from those numbers. If a teacher's note, a performance review, or your own quiet suspicion has you wondering, you're standing in a much more crowded room than it feels like right now.
What's often missing locally isn't awareness. It's a clear next step: a provider who evaluates thoroughly, explains results in language that actually makes sense, and stays involved afterward instead of handing you a report and disappearing. That's the gap this page is meant to close, for Des Moines and West Des Moines specifically.
Counseling, Testing, and Evaluation Aren't the Same Thing
These three words get used almost interchangeably, and that mixing causes real confusion when you're trying to figure out where to start. They're related, but distinct.
Evaluation
The formal diagnostic process, combining interviews, rating scales, and cognitive testing to determine whether ADHD explains what you're experiencing.
Testing
The measurement piece inside an evaluation, standardized tools and structured tasks that produce objective, comparable data.
Counseling
Ongoing support after diagnosis, or even without one, focused on building systems, processing the emotional weight of a late diagnosis, and living differently with what you now understand.
How They Connect
Many Des Moines clients move through all three in sequence: evaluation clarifies what's happening, testing provides the evidence, counseling turns the findings into an actual life change.
What Actually Happens During an Evaluation
A credible evaluation draws from more than one source, not a single form filled out in a waiting room. Expect a genuine clinical interview covering developmental and family history, standardized rating scales completed by more than one person where possible, and structured cognitive testing that measures attention, working memory, and processing speed against real peer norms. Where relevant, screening for anxiety, learning differences, and sleep issues rules out conditions that can mimic ADHD closely enough to fool a rushed assessment.
💡 Expert Tip A single questionnaire is not an evaluation. If a provider's entire process fits into fifteen minutes, ask what else, if anything, factors into their conclusion.
Meet the Clinician Behind Your Evaluation
Dr. Stai personally conducts every ADHD evaluation for Des Moines-area clients, from the first phone call through feedback, and continues into counseling for clients who want ongoing support once the report is in hand. Her process combines a real clinical conversation, multi-informant rating scales, and cognitive testing, delivered without rushing past sensory or emotional comfort to hit a schedule.
She frequently works with people whose ADHD was missed for years: high-masking adults, women diagnosed late, and children whose inattentive presentation looked more like daydreaming than disruption to everyone around them.
A Des Moines-Focused ADHD Self-Check
This isn't a diagnosis, and it won't replace a real evaluation. It's a starting point, built to reflect the kinds of patterns Des Moines clients describe most often in their first consultation call, so you can walk into that conversation with something more specific than a hunch.
For Des Moines Families: Evaluating Children
A thorough pediatric evaluation ties together what a teacher sees in the classroom with what a parent sees at home, without reducing a kid to a checklist. Report cards, attendance patterns, and teacher input all factor in, alongside a real conversation that leaves room for a child's personality, not just their symptoms.
- Classroom strategies: preferential seating, reduced-distraction zones, movement breaks
- Instructional supports: chunked directions, modified assignments, extended time
- Formal plans: 504 Plan or IEP referral when data shows meaningful impact
- Tools: assistive technology for reading, writing, math, and organization
For Des Moines Adults: Diagnosis Later in Life
Adult ADHD often surfaces when life adds complexity that old coping strategies can no longer absorb, a new role at work, a move, a return to school. A thorough adult evaluation reviews childhood history alongside current functioning, ideally with input from a partner or close family member, and includes the same structured cognitive testing used with younger clients, adjusted for adult demands.
Documentation for Work or School
Whether ADHD qualifies as a disability under the ADA depends on how significantly it affects major life activities. A clearly documented diagnosis is typically what Des Moines employers and local colleges ask for before approving accommodations like written instructions, flexible deadlines, or a quieter workspace.
After the Report: What Counseling Actually Looks Like
A diagnosis is a starting point, not a finish line. Ongoing counseling after an evaluation tends to focus on a few concrete areas: building organizational systems that actually match how your brain works instead of fighting it, processing the emotional weight that often comes with a late diagnosis, and coordinating with schools, employers, or prescribers as new supports get put in place.
✅ Important Consideration Reports and counseling recommendations are written to be usable directly by schools, employers, and other providers, not filed away as a formality once the appointment ends.
Questions Des Moines Clients Ask Most
Do you see adults, or mainly children?
Both, in meaningful numbers. Many Des Moines adults are evaluated for the first time well into their careers, often after recognizing familiar patterns in a child's own diagnosis.
Can evaluation happen without driving into an office?
Much of the process, including interviews and portions of rating-scale completion, can happen through secure telehealth. Whether any part needs to be in person depends on age and what's being assessed, discussed directly during your consultation.
What's the difference between ADHD and anxiety? Could it be both?
They can look alike and often occur together. Differentiating the two is a specific, built-in part of the evaluation process, not an afterthought.
How soon can I get started?
The first step is a free consultation call, usually available within days. Most full evaluations wrap up within a few weeks from there.
Do you offer counseling after the evaluation, or just the testing?
Both. Many clients move directly from evaluation into ongoing counseling with the same clinician, so nothing about their history has to be re-explained to someone new.