TEEN ADHD TESTING & THERAPY
When ‘just try harder’ isn’t working.
Therapy and testing for teenagers with ADHD in Newport Beach and Irvine
Many of the teens we see did well for years. Then middle or high school raised the demands.
They were bright enough to keep up, and someone was usually there to manage the details. Then came more classes, longer assignments, less structure, and the expectation that they’ll handle it on their own. Grades slip, the planner goes unused, and evenings turn into arguments about homework. Quietly, many of these teens begin to wonder what is wrong with them.
For families in Newport Beach and Irvine, we offer careful ADHD testing and long-term therapy for teenagers with ADHD, so you can understand what’s really happening and help your teen move forward. An evaluation gives your family a clear answer. Therapy gives your teen a place to make sense of how their mind works, and of who they are apart from it.
Testing and therapy
Under one roof
ADHD-CCSP & ABSNP
Specialized credentials
Parents stay involved
Regular parent meetings
Newport Beach office
MacArthur & Jamboree, near Irvine
WHAT PARENTS OFTEN NOTICE
What does ADHD
look like in teenagers?
By adolescence, ADHD rarely looks like the restless child bouncing off the walls. Initial concern about ADHD in teen years is not uncommon, especially in teens who are high-achieving, more inattentive than hyperactive, or girls, whose struggles are easier to miss.
Most teens show some of these some of the time. ADHD becomes the likely explanation when the pattern is persistent, shows up in more than one setting, traces back to childhood, and gets in the way of school, friendships or family life.
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The assignment was understood, sometimes even finished, but never turned in. ADHD affects the follow-through steps that sit between knowing what to do and getting it done.
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Many teens with ADHD can’t start a task until a deadline creates enough urgency. The last-minute pressure gets them moving, but it also leads to rushed work and exhausting nights.
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Organization depends on planning and working memory, two areas ADHD affects directly. Systems that work for other teens often go unused, even when a teen sincerely means to use them.
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Distracted in class, yet absorbed for hours in a game or phone. Teens with ADHD can focus. What they struggle with is directing attention on purpose to things that don’t hold their interest.
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ADHD affects emotional control as well as attention. A small setback can bring an outsized reaction, which often passes before anyone else has recovered.
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Teens with ADHD are more likely to act before thinking things through. With a driver’s license and more independence, the stakes of those decisions rise.
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Many teens with ADHD find it hard to wind down at night, then struggle to wake and get started. Sleep loss, in turn, makes focus and mood worse.
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After years of hearing “you’re not trying hard enough,” many teens come to believe it. This quiet loss of confidence is often what parents worry about most.
THE QUESTION WE HEAR MOST
Is it ADHD, or something else?
It is the right question to ask. Many conditions can look like ADHD from the outside, and they often overlap. Many teens with ADHD also struggle with anxiety or low mood after years of falling behind. A wrong read has real costs, including treatment that misses the actual problem or medication a teen doesn’t need. Telling these apart is the central purpose of a careful evaluation.
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Anxiety can scatter attention and freeze a teen in front of an assignment. Learn about therapy for teens with anxiety.
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Depression drains motivation and concentration, and often looks like not caring. Learn about therapy for teens with depression.
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Dyslexia or slow processing speed can make schoolwork slow and exhausting. Learn more about psychoeducational evaluations.
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Chronic stress and sleep loss, common in high school, produces inattention and irritability on its own.
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Heavy phone and screen use can worsen focus, though it doesn’t cause ADHD.
Help for your teen begins with one conversation.
During a complimentary 15-minute phone consultation, we’ll talk through what you’re seeing, how we can help, and how to get started.
UNDERSTANDING ADHD
Why ADHD is a problem of regulation, not effort
Teens with ADHD can focus. Many can lock in for hours on something that interests them. What ADHD affects is the ability to direct attention on purpose: staying with a dull chapter, returning to a task after an interruption, holding instructions in mind long enough to act on them. This is why focus seems to come and go, and why “just try harder” rarely helps.
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ADHD also affects inhibition, which works like the brain’s brakes. A teen may blurt out a comment, act on an impulse, or react with more intensity than the moment calls for. The same difficulty shows up in what doesn’t happen: starting homework, keeping an organizational system, pushing through work that takes sustained mental effort.
Both fall under executive functioning, the skills that let a person plan, organize, start tasks, manage time and regulate emotion. These skills keep developing through adolescence, and in teens with ADHD they tend to develop more slowly. Sleep, stress, mood and motivation all affect them further.
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Predominantly inattentive: difficulty sustaining attention, following through and staying organized. This is the presentation most often missed in quiet, capable teens, especially girls.
Predominantly hyperactive-impulsive: restlessness, difficulty waiting, and acting before thinking.
Combined: both patterns together. In adolescence, visible hyperactivity often turns into an inner restlessness, or a pull toward stimulation and risk.
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Parents describe the emotional side of ADHD more often than anything on a checklist. The brakes that help with attention also help with frustration. Without them, feelings can flare fast and hard over something small, then pass before anyone else has recovered. Add the daily strain of falling behind, and evenings at home can become tense. Outbursts can also signal anxiety, depression or exhaustion, which is one more reason we look at the whole picture before drawing conclusions.
ADHD testing for teens
How we evaluate ADHD in teens
A thorough evaluation does more than confirm or rule out a diagnosis. It shows how your teen’s attention, learning and emotions fit together, and what will actually help. Testing takes place in our Newport Beach office, usually over two or more sessions scheduled around school.
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Interviews
In-depth conversations with your teen and with you about development, school and home.
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Rating scales
Input from parents and teachers.
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Testing
Attention, executive functioning, memory, cognitive and academic skills, plus mood, anxiety and learning.
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Feedback & report
A diagnosis where one applies, specific recommendations, and a written report you can share with your teen’s school and physician.
Which evaluation is right for your teen?
Focused
For a single, clear question about attention, executive functioning, IQ or giftedness.
Psychoeducational
When grades, reading, writing or math are also a concern, including documentation for a 504 plan or IEP. Learn more about psychoeducational evaluations
Accommodations
Documentation for extended time on the SAT, ACT or AP exams, or support in college. Learn about testing for exam accommodations
Comprehensive
When the picture is complex, with ADHD, learning concerns, mood, anxiety, autism or several concerns overlapping.
We’ll recommend a level during your consultation. Fees are fixed, with no hourly overages.
Explore our ADHD testing and psychological evaluations →THERAPY FOR TEENS WITH ADHD
How therapy helps teens with ADHD
By the teen years, ADHD is rarely only about attention. Years of being corrected, reminded and told to try harder leave a mark: shame, avoidance, a fragile sense of competence, and sometimes anxiety or low mood. A teen who has privately decided they’re “the problem” will struggle to use any strategy, however good.
Our therapy includes cognitive-behavioral strategies to reduce the impact of ADHD symptoms on daily life. What sets us apart is that we fold these strategies into long-term and depth-oriented work. In a steady relationship with one therapist, your teen has a place to be heard, to work through frustration and discouragement, and to understand how their mind works. Over time, many teens come to separate who they are from what ADHD makes hard. That shift tends to open the door to everything else.
Over time, many teens find they:
- Recognize their strengths, not only their struggles
- Plan and manage their time with less outside help
- Start work earlier and follow through more consistently
- Handle frustration and setbacks with less conflict at home
- Make steadier, more considered decisions
Practical strategies, built around how your teen thinks
Alongside this, we draw on cognitive behavioral therapy, among the best-researched approaches for adolescent ADHD. It helps teens build practical systems for planning, studying and following through, shaped around how they actually think. Strategies tend to hold when a teen no longer feels defined by their struggles.
A private space for your teen
Teens are given a private space of their own. At the outset, we agree as a family on what stays between teen and therapist and what is shared with parents. Safety always comes first.
How parents stay involved
Parents remain part of the work. We meet with you regularly to make sense of what you’re seeing, and help you shift from managing every detail to supporting your teen’s growing independence, which often eases conflict at home. If medication is being considered, we coordinate with your teen’s pediatrician or psychiatrist. With your permission, we can also work with the school.
ADHD specialists for teens & families
Our team of psychologists and therapists is led by Aaron Montgomery, Psy.D., a licensed clinical psychologist who has devoted his career to working with children, adolescents and their parents. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of School Neuropsychology and a Certified ADHD Clinical Services Provider (ADHD-CCSP).
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![Aaron R. Montgomery, Psy.D., licensed psychologist and Clinical Director at OC Psychology Center in Newport Beach]()
Dr. Aaron Montgomery, Psy.D., ABSNP
Founder & Clinical Director • Licensed Psychologist
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![Carrie Kimpton Heald Ph.D.., licensed psychologist at OC Psychology Center in Newport Beach]()
Dr. Carrie Kimpton Heald, Ph.D., Ed.S.
Licensed Psychologist
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![Deborah Naghi, Psy.D., licensed psychologist at OC Psychology Center in Newport Beach]()
Dr. Deborah Naghi, Psy.D., ABSNP
Licensed Psychologist
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![Brittany Bell, Ph.D., licensed psychologist at OC Psychology Center in Newport Beach]()
Dr. Brittany Bell, Ph.D.
Licensed Psychologist
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![Dr. Antonio Becerra Psy.D., licensed psychologist at OC Psychology Center in Newport Beach]()
Dr. Antonio Becerra, Psy.D.
Licensed Psychologist
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![Dr. Reem Qaqish, Psy.D. LPCC, Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor at OC Psychology Center in Newport Beach]()
Dr. Reem Qaqish, Psy.D., LPCC
Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor
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![Poppy Peluce Fune, LCSW, licensed therapist at OC Psychology Center in Newport Beach]()
Poppy Peluce-Fune, LCSW
Licensed Therapist • EMDR Certification
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![Cindy Ficken, LMFT, Licensed Therapist at OC Psychology Center in Newport Beach]()
Cindy Ficken, LMFT, LPCC
Licensed Therapist
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![Rubi Lopez Becerra, LMFT, Licensed Therapist at OC Psychology Center in Newport Beach]()
Rubi Lopez Becerra, LMFT
Licensed Therapist • EMDR Certification
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![Jennifer Heers, AMFT, Associate Therapist at OC Psychology Center in Newport Beach]()
Jennifer Heers, AMFT
Associate Therapist
COMMON QUESTIONS
Frequently asked questions
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Yes. ADHD begins in childhood, but in bright or inattentive teens it is often first noticed when the demands of middle or high school outgrow their coping strategies. A careful evaluation looks back at early development to confirm the pattern was there all along.
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Yes, when the findings support it. Our reports follow the documentation standards that schools, the College Board and ACT expect, and we can advise on what’s needed for college disability services. Learn about testing for exam accommodations.
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Not necessarily. Many teens benefit from therapy and practical strategies, with or without medication. If medication may help, we discuss it with you and coordinate with your teen’s pediatrician or psychiatrist.
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That’s common. A first meeting is often easier when it focuses on what your teen wants to be different, rather than what others want to change. We can talk through how to approach it during your consultation.
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No. We are a private-pay practice. This allows care to be guided by your teen’s needs rather than an insurer’s requirements: how often we meet, how long the work continues, and what is documented. It also keeps your family’s care more private. On request, we provide a superbill you may submit for possible out-of-network reimbursement. See fees and insurance.
CONTACT US
Request a Teen Therapy Consultation
Choose a time on our calendar for a complimentary 15-minute phone consultation. We’ll listen to what’s going on and talk through how we can help.
Prefer to leave a voicemail or text?
OUR OFFICE
In Newport Beach, close to home.
We provide counseling and psychological assessment in Newport Beach from our private office in Koll Center Newport, where Newport Beach meets Irvine and Costa Mesa. Many of the families we work with come from Irvine and nearby communities, and online sessions are available throughout California.
We’re five minutes from UCI & John Wayne Airport, with easy access from the 405, 73 and 55, and free visitor parking.
OC Psychology Center
4000 MacArthur Blvd - East Tower, Suite 600
Newport Beach, CA 92660