Frequently Asked Questions

Great! Please book a call with our Intake team here.  A member of our Care Team will then get in touch with you to discuss scheduling options and answer any questions you have.

Our ADHD Services menu contains information about our ADHD Assessments, and ADHD Coaching & Therapy services. If you have any more questions, please contact us and we’ll be happy to tell you more.

While wait times vary throughout the year, clients can typically schedule a first appointment at Springboard within one month of requesting it. We understand it takes courage and resolve to reach out for help, and we want to provide the support you need as quickly as possible. If you’re looking for resources in the meantime, check out our Learning and Resources pages for online courses, webinars, and other activities to help you move forward in your ADHD journey.

We believe honesty is the best policy when talking to children or others in your care about getting support. We recommend focusing on their strengths – everybody has them, and helping clients tap into their hidden strengths is a key part of our approach to ADHD. Let them know that you see how hard they’re trying, and that Springboard is here to help make things easier. We’ve found lots of ways, big and small, to make the experience an enjoyable one. If you or your child is feeling anxious, you’ll find some helpful suggestions in Planning for Your Appointment.

Exciting news!  The following Springboard assessment and treatment services are now available virtually for those located in Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick: 

• Springboard Psychological ADHD Assessment 
• Springboard Memory Assessment 
• Straight to Coaching and Coaching/Therapy services 
• Springboard Online Courses 

Book a call with our team to learn more about these services. 

Those located in Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island (PEI) can currently access our adult and parent online courses and our 12-session adult ADHD coaching program. Reach out to us at learning@springboardclinic.com to learn more about these offerings. 

We’re able to offer access to our adult and parent online courses and our 12-session adult ADHD coaching program to those located in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. Reach out to us at learning@springboardclinic.com to learn more about these offerings.

We’re able to offer access to our adult and parent online courses and our 12-session adult ADHD coaching program to those located outside Canada. Reach out to us at learning@springboardclinic.com to learn more about these offerings.

Springboard supports people of all ages with ADHD and attention challenges. We see children as young as 2½ years and have worked with adults in their seventies. We also provide care for parents, siblings and couples, often working with multiple family members simultaneously to provide a holistic treatment plan. To learn more, see Our Services.

When it comes to mental health, how we define progress is very personal and obviously depends on individual goals. For one person, success may be repairing a relationship with a spouse or partner. For someone else, simply seeing their child make a friend is a major triumph. At Springboard, we meet you where you are in your ADHD journey and support you in pursuing your goals. And we’re very proud of our track record, as it meets the high expectations of the people who matter most: our clients.

Yes, at this point you must be living in Ontario to receive our services. You also must be in the province for the duration of your assessment. If you’re going to be outside Ontario during an online coaching session, please contact our Care Team to discuss how this may affect your insurance coverage.

Here’s why we have to make these points clear: every jurisdiction has its own professional regulatory body, and in the case of Springboard, our psychologists and therapists are licensed to provide care in Ontario. This may evolve in the future, though, and we’ll be sure to keep you informed of any changes to our services. If you have further questions or would like to be notified of future changes, please contact us.

Yes, a referral is required if you wish to have an ADHD assessment with a medical component or if you need medical services – either a consultation or follow-up care – in support of your coaching and therapy. The Springboard Benchmark Assessment and the Springboard Psychoeducational Assessment both require a referral. For the Springboard Psychological Assessment, you only need a referral if you’d like your assessment to include a medical consult.

Springboard accepts referrals from family physicians or primary care providers. (Unfortunately, we’re unable to accept referrals from walk-in clinics.) We feel that the comprehensive scope of a family physician’s practice, coupled with the deep long-term relationships they build with patients and their families, make them ideally positioned to follow our clients’ long-term medical needs. We’re committed to building ongoing relationships with community physicians to ensure continuity of care for Springboard clients and their families. To learn more about the referral process, please visit our Physician Referrals page.

Yes – we are PHIPA-compliant and our Care Team maintains the strictest standards of confidentiality and privacy. Where not dictated otherwise by law, it is our policy to ensure your information does not leave Springboard Clinic in any form without your informed consent.

Please note that there are legal limits to confidentiality and that in certain circumstances consent is not required by law. These include situations where:

• we believe clients face imminent risk of harm to themselves or others
• we must file a report of suspected abuse or neglect to the Children’s Aid Society
• we must disclose sexual abuse by another professional
• we must comply with a court-ordered release of information

If you have any questions about confidentiality, please contact our Privacy Commissioner at privacy@springboardclinic.com.

Life happens; we understand that. If you can’t attend an appointment, please provide:

• at least five business days’ notice to cancel a Springboard Psychoeducational Assessment
• at least three business days’ notice to cancel a Springboard Benchmark Assessment or a Springboard Psychological Assessment
• at least one business day’s notice to cancel a coaching or medical appointment

Please call our office at 416.901.3077 to cancel. If we receive your cancellation with less than our required advance notice, your deposit is non-refundable and/or late fees may apply.

A thorough assessment is relevant and rewarding no matter what your age. If you’ve struggled with attention-related issues or with mental health or learning challenges throughout your life, it can be very empowering to finally have the opportunity to self-explore and find some answers. Springboard clients regularly express relief as they begin their journey with us and start coming to terms with past experiences. You can learn more by visiting our Assessment page.

They’re welcome to attend your appointment if you’re comfortable with them hearing your answers to questions about your health, habits and mental state. It’s important that having another person there doesn’t affect your ability to answer honestly. That said, it can be very helpful to include a parent, caregiver or significant other in your assessment process. Their input can provide a fuller picture of your strengths and challenges. Where possible, it can be helpful to include them in your treatment plan as well.

Medication is only appropriate for some clients, and when it is prescribed, it’s just one part of an effective ADHD program. Many Springboard clients don’t need or choose not to take medication. Each client’s personal journey includes opportunities to speak with one of our medical doctors to determine whether medication could be helpful.

A pharmaceutical intervention may help kickstart change and can be very effective when used in conjunction with coaching and therapy. Some clients use medication long-term, while others develop other coping strategies and cease medication. The principle that guides our pharmaceutical advice – and all aspects of Springboard’s approach – is that your care is personalized. There are no “one size fits all” solutions in ADHD care.

To work with our Coaching & Therapy team, you’ll either need to complete an assessment with Springboard or, provide equivalent documentation. That said, your assessment doesn’t have to include an ADHD diagnosis. If you’re looking for Executive Function support, you can book a free call with one of our Executive Function coaches here.

Many people experience challenges related to executive functioning and mood but don’t meet the criteria for a particular diagnosis. Even if you don’t meet specific criteria set out in DSM-5 (the standard classification manual used by mental health professionals), we still work with you to help you learn as much as possible about yourself and how your brain works. With or without an ADHD diagnosis, Springboard is focused on helping you move forward.

If you don’t have an assessment, we’ll also accept recent documentation (within 5 years) of an ADHD diagnosis from a medical or psychological professional. The documentation should describe your attention/mental health profile in detail as well as the areas of your life most impacted by your ADHD to help our team determine if Straight to Coaching is the best fit for you.

Every person is unique and so too is your journey through ADHD care. You may have many dimensions of your ADHD you’d like to work on, or only a few – so the length of treatment really depends on you. We generally recommend that clients commit to weekly one-hour sessions for the first six to eight weeks in order to benefit from that initial momentum, rather than spreading sessions out over time.

We offer therapy to coaching clients who are experiencing emotional distress, self-esteem issues, symptoms of mood or anxiety disorders, or interpersonal difficulties. Springboard’s therapists take an integrative approach, adopting many components of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).

Depending on clients’ individual challenges and priorities, we may examine the interactions between their thoughts, feelings, and behaviours; explore their early life experiences, stressors, and current triggers; and identify their core beliefs and automatic thoughts. Psychotherapy can help people with ADHD better understand and process their emotional blockers and maladaptive patterns. And it can point the way to developing more effective coping strategies and fostering emotional wellbeing. Learn more on our Coaching & Therapy page.

You can see everyone’s credentials and experience on our Meet Our Team Members page. Our ADHD coaches have graduate-level degrees in the mental health field and all Springboard coaching is supervised by our registered clinical psychologists or clinical psychological associates.

Absolutely. The number one comment we hear from thousands of appreciative Springboard clients is how much we care. Everyone on the team has unique skills and expertise, but the common thread is deep, unwavering empathy. We understand ADHD intimately. We’ve lived the experience with our families and friends, or in our own lives. We know how emotional this journey is. And we never stop showing how much we believe in our clients, so they never stop believing in themselves. Learn more about our team members here.

Finding the right coach for you is the number one predictor of therapeutic success. The alliance you form with your coach is personal and essential to the process. That’s why we put a lot of thought and care into matching coaches with clients – and while we have a great track record, not every pairing is perfect. If you don’t feel your coach is quite right, you can reach out to our Director of Coaching Services. We’ll be happy to help make a seamless transition to one of our other team members (or, in rare cases, we’ll help find a better fit outside Springboard).

You’ll find our fee schedule and other details on the Pricing & Insurance page.

While we use the term coaching to describe Springboard’s goal-oriented treatment sessions, our services, unlike those of most coaching providers, are insurable as “psychological services.” Our clinicians are mental health experts, formally educated and trained to provide customized support to our community. As well, Springboard coaches are supervised by our registered clinical psychologists or clinical psychological associates. For all these reasons, our fees are comparable to those of other psychological service providers rather than life coaches.

Springboard’s services are eligible for coverage under many benefits plans. Please visit the Pricing and Insurance page to learn more.

We’ll provide you with a detailed receipt that includes the credentials of the supervising psychologist or psychological associate providing the services, as well as session dates and duration, and the hourly rate for the services you received. Unfortunately, we’re not able to submit insurance claims on your behalf.