Imagine this: one person spends ten minutes with their doctor, walks out with a prescription, and calls it an ADHD diagnosis. Another spends an entire day in a psychologist’s office, testing memory, attention, and executive function, only to arrive at the very same conclusion. Which one is “real”? Which one counts?
In this episode, Pete Wright and Nikki Kinzer talk with psychologist Dr. Amie DeHarpporte, who has spent her career living at the intersection of these contradictions. Once a high school teacher and now a specialist in ADHD assessment, Dr. DeHarpporte has seen how elusive—and yet how desperately needed—a clear diagnosis can be. She explains why ADHD is simultaneously overdiagnosed and underdiagnosed, how TikTok has blurred the boundaries of what people think ADHD looks like, and why the process is as much art as it is science.
But the story isn’t just about tests and checklists. At its heart, a diagnosis is about validation—about someone finally saying, yes, what you’ve been experiencing all these years is real. Dr. DeHarpporte takes us inside her practice, showing how thorough assessment can unravel years of shame, rewrite self-narratives, and reveal strengths hidden in plain sight.
What you’ll discover is that ADHD diagnosis isn’t a binary. It’s a lens, a way of telling the story of your life with more clarity. And sometimes, that clarity is the most important prescription of all.
Links & Notes
- (00:00) - Welcome to Taking Control: The ADHD Podcast
- (01:59) - Support the Show!
- (04:28) - Introducing Dr. Amie DeHarpporte
- (06:09) - The Diagnosis Space
- (13:03) - What goes into a diagnosis
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