Progress notes for ADHD: document the actual encounter
Record the concern discussed, its reported or observed effect on daily functioning, the work completed and the client's response. ADHD involves persistent difficulties that can affect attention, activity or impulse control across settings; one task difficulty does not establish the diagnosis. NIMH's ADHD overview.
Documentation example, not treatment guidance. Adapt the structure to the encounter you actually conducted and your organization's requirements. A qualified clinician must review a real note; missing information must not be converted into a negative finding.
A fictional documentation example
Context: An adult with an established ADHD diagnosis reports missing two work deadlines. In the encounter, clinician and client break one pending task into three steps. The client chooses a calendar reminder and agrees to record whether it helps start the task. No medication review, symptom-scale score or risk-assessment result is supplied.
Session focus: Client reports two missed work deadlines and difficulty initiating the pending task.
Work completed: Clinician and client divided the task into three steps; client selected a calendar reminder.
Response: Client participated in selecting the reminder. Its effect on task initiation has not yet been evaluated.
Plan: Client agreed to record whether the reminder helps start the task, for discussion at follow-up. Confirm timing.
What makes this note useful
- The missed deadlines are attributed to the client's report.
- The intervention describes what happened rather than naming an unsupported treatment package.
- The note does not turn agreement to try a strategy into proof of improvement.
- The next observation has a defined purpose.
Only record assessments and treatment information that exist
If a scale was administered, record its actual name, date, result and appropriate interpretation. Do not insert a scale score or medication statement from a template. Medication decisions and clinical assessment belong to the responsible qualified professional; this page is a documentation exercise.
Related: Progress-note structure · School counseling example.
Updated September 6, 2026.