How to Clinically Assess ADHD Using Both Objective and Subjective Data
There is no blood test for ADHD, no scan, no genetic marker. There is also no way to diagnose it accurately from what you see across a desk in one appointment. Everything therefore depends on how well the assessment is constructed: what history you take, from whom, which instruments you use, and what you do when the results disagree with each other.
Bruce Cappo does this all day. He founded Clinical Associates in Kansas thirty years ago, it now runs to around eighty practitioners across six offices and did more than fifty thousand appointments last year, and his own practice is limited to evaluation and consultation. They keep five rooms that do nothing but testing. He is board certified in police and public safety psychology, which is high-stakes assessment work, and that rigour is what he brings to this.
Three hours, and it follows the assessment from start to finish. Definitions and prevalence, then a substantial section on alternative diagnoses that mimic ADHD and on comorbidity, which he treats as the part clinicians most often get wrong. Then the history: what to ask about development, sleep, eating, discipline, school, friendships and family medical history, and why a checkbox form gets better information out of a parent than an open question. Then the objective side, including continuous performance testing and auditory attention testing, what each measures, and the administration conditions that make the results worth anything. He closes on case examples, going through real printouts and showing how he reaches a conclusion from data that rarely points one way.
You’ll walk away with
- An assessment process you can follow end to end, rather than a set of instruments in isolation
- Why no single test diagnoses ADHD, and why brief observation in session is not enough
- Alternative diagnoses that mimic ADHD, including the bipolar presentations that are commonly misdiagnosed in childhood
- Comorbidity, which he treats as the central difficulty rather than a footnote
- History taking that actually yields information, including why checkbox forms outperform open questions with parents
- What to gather from family, school and other informants, and how to weigh accounts that conflict
- Standardised rating scales and symptom checklists, with the strengths and limits of each
- Continuous performance testing: what it measures, what it does not, and how to read the output
- Auditory attention testing, including the laterality findings that have led him to refer for other conditions
- Administration conditions that determine whether a result means anything
- Worked case examples with real score printouts, including cases where the data is ambiguous
Watch the course trailer
CPD Information For Mental Health Professionals
Enjoy complete flexibility with 100% self-paced learning you can access anytime, anywhere, and on any device. This course is included with your Tatra Training membership, along with every other course in the library.
Please note: Bruce Cappo practises in the United States and the instruments and normative data he demonstrates are the ones used there. The assessment reasoning transfers; check availability and scoring for your own setting. Formal instruments are also restricted to practitioners qualified to administer them.
Where this sits: the assessment course. Treatment of ADHD in Children and Adolescents picks up where this one finishes.
Course Duration: 3 learning hours
Certificate and CPD hours: On completion you’ll receive a Certificate of Completion to support your CPD records. Your certificates are yours to keep.
Assessment: Complete a short quiz at the end (80% pass mark), which you can resit as many times as needed.
Revisit Anytime: Come back to the course as often as you like while your membership is active, whenever you want a refresher for practice.
CPD Eligibility: This program may be suitable for CPD for professionals such as:
- Psychologists
- Counsellors and Psychotherapists
- Social Workers
- Community Workers
- Mental Health Nurses
- General Practitioners (GPs)
- Occupational Therapists
CPD requirements vary between professional bodies, so please check with your association or credentialing body to confirm you can claim CPD hours/OPD points for this program and what evidence they require.
Course Content
Meet Your Instructor
High-stakes psychological evaluations - where careers, freedom, and public safety hang in the balance - require a level of expertise that most clinicians never encounter. Bruce Cappo has spent over three decades mastering this specialised arena, becoming one of America’s leading forensic psychologists and police psychology specialists.
As a board-certified specialist in Police and Public Safety Psychology through the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP), Dr. Cappo founded Clinical Associates in 1992, building it into a multidisciplinary practice serving more than 85 professionals across Kansas and Missouri. His recognition as Fellow and Past-President of both the Kansas Psychological Association and Kansas Association of Professional Psychologists reflects his leadership in advancing psychological practice at the highest levels.
Dr. Cappo's expertise spans three critical areas: forensic evaluations and consultation, risk and public safety assessments, and complex diagnostic evaluations. He provides psychological evaluations for federal agencies including DEA, ICE, TSA, and Homeland Security, while serving as consultant to multiple police departments including Overland Park Police Department. His work extends to the most challenging cases - competency evaluations, fitness for duty assessments, sex offender evaluations, and mental status determinations for federal and state courts.
What sets his training apart is real-world application under pressure. Cappo doesn't just teach assessment theory - he shows clinicians how to conduct evaluations that withstand legal scrutiny, how to write reports that inform critical decisions, and how to testify effectively in court. His experience with the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, federal court systems, and high-security evaluations gives him insights that few practitioners possess.
For your practice, expect to gain specific skills in conducting forensic assessments, understanding the intersection of psychology and law, and developing the clinical judgment needed for high-stakes evaluations. His methods particularly benefit clinicians interested in forensic work, public safety psychology, or complex diagnostic cases.
Quick Win: Cappo's structured approach to fitness-for-duty evaluations helps clinicians distinguish between temporary stress responses and more serious psychological conditions that impact job performance - a distinction with major career and safety implications.
Qualifications
- Ph.D., Clinical Psychology, University of Kansas, 1987
- M.A., Clinical Psychology, University of Kansas, 1983
- B.A., Psychology (with distinction), University of Kansas, 1982
- APA-approved internship, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, 1986–1987
- American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP) Board Certified Specialist in Police and Public Safety Psychology, 2011
- Licensed Psychologist: Kansas, Missouri, Illinois
- National Register of Health Care Providers in Psychology
- Master Addiction Counselor (MAC) certified
Leadership & Recognition
- Fellow, Kansas Psychological Association
- Past-President, Kansas Psychological Association
- Past-President, Kansas Association of Professional Psychologists
- University of Minnesota Press Advisory Committee member (psychological assessment)
- Ad Hoc reviewer for multiple professional journals
Teaching & Roles
- Founder & Director, Clinical Associates, P.A., Lenexa, KS, 1992–present
- Owner, STAT Corporation, 1991–present
- Instructor, Abnormal Psychology, United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth, KS
- Instructor, General Psychology & Abnormal Psychology, Rockhurst University, Kansas City, MO
Ready to develop expertise in high-stakes psychological assessment? Discover how Dr. Cappo's forensic methods can elevate your clinical skills and expand your practice into specialised evaluation work.
Feedback & Reviews
This course includes:
- Lessons 3
- Topics 0
- Duration 3 hours
- Quizzes 1
- Language English