If you’ve been searching for ADHD testing in the Poconos area and landed on a Licensed Professional Counselor, there’s a good chance a question is nagging at you: Is an LPC actually qualified to do this? Is the diagnosis going to count?
It’s a fair question — and one you deserve a straight answer to before you invest your time and money. So let’s get into it, because the answer is more definitive than you might expect, especially if you’re in Pennsylvania.
What Is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Exactly?
Before we get to ADHD specifically, it helps to understand what an LPC actually is and what it takes to earn that license — because there’s a common misconception that LPCs are somehow a lesser tier of mental health professional.
An LPC holds a master’s degree in counseling or a closely related clinical field — typically 60 graduate credit hours of coursework covering psychopathology, assessment, diagnosis, ethics, and clinical practice. In Pennsylvania specifically, licensure also requires 3,000 hours of supervised clinical experience before a full license is granted. After all of that, candidates must pass a national licensing examination.
That’s a rigorous clinical training pathway. LPCs are not life coaches, not wellness advisors, and not “counselors” in the casual sense of the word. They are licensed mental health clinicians with formal training in assessment and diagnosis.
Can an LPC Diagnose ADHD in Pennsylvania? The Legal Answer.
Yes — and in Pennsylvania, this is settled law.
Pennsylvania Act 76 of 2018, signed by Governor Wolf, formally added diagnosis to the scope of practice for Licensed Professional Counselors in the Commonwealth. This wasn’t a gray area before that law — but Act 76 made it explicit and unambiguous. Pennsylvania state statute now authorizes LPCs to use DSM-based diagnostic classifications, including ADHD, within the scope of their education, training, and clinical experience.
This means that when a Pennsylvania LPC conducts an ADHD evaluation and produces a written diagnostic report, that report carries the same legal and clinical standing as one produced by any other licensed mental health professional in the state. Your prescriber — whether that’s a psychiatrist, a nurse practitioner, or your primary care physician — can receive that report and use it to inform treatment decisions, including conversations about medication.
This is not a loophole. It is the law.
Isn’t ADHD Testing Something Only Psychologists Can Do?
This is one of the most persistent myths about ADHD diagnosis, and it’s worth addressing directly.
Neuropsychological testing — the kind of comprehensive cognitive battery that includes IQ assessment, memory testing, and processing speed evaluation — is within the specialized scope of licensed psychologists. If you need that level of evaluation, for example for university disability accommodations, professional licensing accommodations, or highly complex differential diagnosis cases, a psychologist is the right referral.
But a thorough ADHD evaluation that produces a clinically sound diagnosis and a written report your prescriber can act on? That is well within the scope of a trained LPC in Pennsylvania. The two things are not the same, and most people seeking an ADHD evaluation — including most people whose prescribers have asked them to get one — do not need a full neuropsychological battery. They need a rigorous, structured clinical assessment. That’s exactly what a qualified LPC provides.
What Makes an LPC ADHD Evaluation Clinically Credible?
The credibility of any ADHD evaluation lives or dies on the quality of the tools used and the rigor of the clinical process — not on the letters after the evaluator’s name. Here’s what a high-quality LPC evaluation looks like in practice, and why it stands up clinically.
The DIVA-5: A Gold-Standard Structured Interview
Our evaluation is built around the DIVA-5 — the Diagnostic Interview for ADHD in Adults. The DIVA-5 is a structured clinical interview developed directly from the DSM-5 criteria for ADHD, and it is one of the most widely validated and internationally recognized ADHD assessment tools available. It is used by clinicians across a wide range of credential types, including psychiatrists and psychologists, in clinical and research settings worldwide.
The DIVA-5 is not a checklist. It walks systematically through all 18 DSM-5 ADHD symptom criteria, examines evidence of symptoms in both childhood and adulthood, and evaluates impairment across five key life domains: work and education, relationships, social life, leisure and hobbies, and self-esteem and self-image. The result is a structured, documentable, DSM-aligned assessment that provides clear clinical evidence for or against an ADHD diagnosis.
Co-Occurring Condition Screening
ADHD rarely presents in isolation. Anxiety and depression are among the most common conditions that co-occur with ADHD — and they’re also conditions that can mimic ADHD symptoms closely enough to cause misdiagnosis when screening isn’t thorough. Our evaluation includes validated self-assessment measures for both anxiety and depression, ensuring the diagnostic picture accounts for the full clinical landscape.
Executive Function Assessment
Executive functioning — the set of cognitive skills governing planning, organization, working memory, task initiation, and emotional regulation — is one of the core areas affected by ADHD. Our evaluation includes a dedicated executive function assessment, which adds clinical depth and specificity to the diagnosis and gives both you and your prescriber a more detailed understanding of how ADHD is showing up in your daily life.
Neurodevelopmental Pattern Screening
We also include screening that looks at broader neurodevelopmental patterns, giving context to experiences that may go beyond core ADHD symptoms. As an LPC, diagnosing autism spectrum conditions falls outside my scope of practice, and our report will not include such a diagnosis. However, if patterns emerge that suggest a broader neurodevelopmental profile, the report will note them and include a recommendation for follow-up evaluation with an appropriate specialist.
What Does the Evaluation Report Include — and Will My Doctor Accept It?
Our written evaluation report documents all assessment findings, states the diagnostic conclusion clearly with clinical rationale, and includes specific recommendations your prescriber can use. It is written to be both clinically rigorous and genuinely readable — clear enough for you to understand, thorough enough for your doctor to act on.
The vast majority of prescribers in the Poconos area — including primary care physicians, psychiatrists, and nurse practitioners — accept and work with evaluation reports from licensed professional counselors in Pennsylvania. The report reflects a formal, DSM-based clinical evaluation conducted by a state-licensed professional using validated assessment tools. That is what prescribers are looking for.
If you have any uncertainty about whether a specific prescriber will accept an LPC evaluation report, the simplest approach is to call their office and ask before scheduling your evaluation. In our experience, this is rarely an issue — but we’d rather you have that confirmation than be surprised.
Why Choose an LPC for ADHD Testing in the Poconos?
Beyond the question of credentials, there’s a practical reality that matters enormously to most people seeking ADHD testing: access and speed.
Large hospital systems and psychiatry practices in the Monroe and Pike County area routinely have wait times of four to six months or longer for behavioral health evaluations. That’s four to six months of continuing to struggle at work, in school, or in your relationships — without answers, without documentation, and without the ability to even begin a medication conversation with your prescriber.
Our practice is built specifically to close that gap. We offer comprehensive, clinically rigorous ADHD evaluations with fast turnaround, serving Stroudsburg, East Stroudsburg, Pike County, Monroe County, and the greater Poconos area. No referral required. No institutional intake queue. Just a thorough evaluation, a professional report, and answers you can actually do something with.
The Short Answer — and the Next Step
Can an LPC do ADHD testing? In Pennsylvania: absolutely yes, without qualification, and backed by state law.
The right question isn’t whether an LPC can do it. It’s whether the LPC you’re working with uses validated tools, conducts a thorough evaluation, and produces a report that gives your prescriber what they need. We do all three.
If you’re ready to stop waiting and start getting answers, we’d love to help.
Contact us to schedule your ADHD evaluation in the Poconos area — no referral needed.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical or legal advice. All clinical care and medication decisions should be made in partnership with your licensed medical provider.