TempoLife › Recursos › Mental health support: who to see and what it costs › checking-a-licence
Checking that someone is who they say they are
Seven countries, seven registers, and a one-minute check that most people never do before handing over their worst week.
Este é um mapa de como funcionam os sistemas, não um diagnóstico e não um plano de tratamento. Não menciona nenhuma prática nem preço privado, porque nenhum deles pode ser mantido aqui com exatidão. Ele não pode dizer o que está errado ou qual tratamento você precisa – esse é o trabalho do médico e começa com uma consulta. Nunca interrompa ou altere um medicamento prescrito com base em uma página da web. Se a vida de alguém estiver em perigo neste momento, ligue para o número de emergência: 112 em qualquer lugar da UE e do EEE.
Why the check is worth a minute
Mental-health work is unusually easy to fake and unusually damaging to fake badly. The room is private, the client is by definition not at their strongest, there is no equipment and no laboratory result to be wrong, and in several of these countries at least one of the professional titles is not legally protected at all. Every register named on this page is public, free and searchable by name, and using one takes about as long as reading a menu. It is the single highest-value minute in the whole process.
What each register actually proves
They do not all prove the same thing, and conflating them is the usual mistake. A health-care licence or authorisation — Sweden’s and Finland’s licensed professions, Norway’s health personnel register, Denmark’s authorisation, Estonia’s and Latvia’s registers of medical practitioners — proves that the state has recognised a qualification and that the person is subject to professional supervision, including the power to restrict them. A professional certificate, such as Estonia’s psychologist certificate in the national qualifications register, proves an assessed standard in a named specialisation. Association membership proves that the person has joined an organisation with entry requirements and an ethics code. All three are useful; only the first two involve the state.
A restriction is not the same as an absence
A register entry that exists but carries a restriction, a condition or a suspension is telling you something specific, and it is worth reading the entry rather than only checking that a name appears. Equally, a name that does not appear is not automatically a scandal: people practise under a maiden name, foreign qualifications may be recognised under a different heading, and someone whose base profession is registered may hold a psychotherapy qualification that the register does not record at all because the country does not register it. The correct response to a missing entry is to ask, not to accuse.
Ask the questions the register cannot answer
Three things matter that no register shows. Whether the person is in regular clinical supervision now — a professional standard rather than a sign of inexperience, and a question a qualified therapist answers without hesitation. Whether they carry professional liability insurance. And what happens to your record: where the notes live, how long they are kept, and who can see them. Those three, plus a register check, cover almost everything that can be checked before a first appointment. The confidentiality page explains what the answers should sound like.
Warning signs that are actually diagnostic
A few things are unambiguous rather than a matter of taste, and they cut across every method and every country. A therapist who will not name their qualification or training institute. Guarantees of a cure, or of a result in a number of sessions. Advice to stop a prescribed medicine, which no non-prescriber should ever give. Pressure to buy long packages up front, or to recruit others. Contact that migrates outside the therapy — social, financial or romantic, all of which are prohibited by every professional ethics code in the region. Discouraging you from consulting a doctor, or from telling anyone about the treatment. Any one of these is enough to stop, and it is always allowed to stop.
| País | Register or authority | O que isso prova |
|---|---|---|
| Estônia | Terviseamet registers; Kutseregister for psychologists | Registration to practise in health care; the psychologist’s professional certificate and its level |
| Finlândia | JulkiTerhikki, under the Licensing and Supervision Agency | Licensed doctors and psychologists, and the protected psychotherapist title |
| Letónia | Veselības inspekcija; the statutory Register of Psychologists | Registration of medical practitioners; certification of psychologists and the field it covers |
| Lituânia | State Health Care Accreditation Agency; the psychologists’ practice arrangements | Licensing of health-care professionals and institutions; the statutory basis for psychologists |
| Suécia | Socialstyrelsen’s register of licensed health-care staff | Licensed psychologists and licensed psychotherapists, both verifiable by name |
| Norway | Health personnel register, Helsedirektoratet | Authorisation as a psychologist, and specialist status where held |
| Denmark | Styrelsen for Patientsikkerhed; Psykolognævnet for psychologists | Authorisation of health professionals; the authorisation behind "autoriseret psykolog" |
Os próprios registros
| País | Cadastre-se | Mantido por | O que isso prova |
|---|---|---|---|
| Estônia | Cadastro de profissionais de saúde | Terviseamet (Conselho de Saúde) | Que um médico, psiquiatra ou enfermeiro esteja registado para exercer a profissão na Estónia |
| Estônia | Cadastro de prestadores de cuidados de saúde | Terviseamet | Que a própria clínica seja titular de licença de atividade |
| Estônia | Registro Kutse | Kutsekoda (Autoridade de Qualificações da Estônia) | Que o psicólogo possui o certificado profissional e em que nível |
| Estônia | Lista de parceiros contratados | Tervisekassa | Que a clínica tem um contrato, então o estado paga e o limite máximo da taxa de visita se aplica |
| Finlândia | Julki Terhikki | Agência de Licenciamento e Supervisão (Lupa-ja valvontavirasto) | Que um médico ou psicólogo seja licenciado e que um psicoterapeuta possua o título protegido |
| Finlândia | Autoridade supervisora | Lupaja valvontavirasto, que assumiu as funções de Valvira a partir de 2026 | Licenciamento, fiscalização e restrições à prática |
| Finlândia | Pesquisa de provedor de serviços Kela | Kela | Que o terapeuta seja aprovado para o esquema de psicoterapia de reabilitação |
| Finlândia | Diretório Sindical dos Psicólogos | Suomen Psykologiliitto | Associação e especialização – um suplemento, não prova de licença |
| Letónia | Cadastro de médicos | Veselības inspekcija (Inspeção de Saúde) | Que um médico ou psiquiatra esteja registrado para exercer a profissão |
| Letónia | Cadastro de Psicólogos | Mantido sob o Ministério do Bem-Estar | Que um psicólogo é certificado pela Lei dos Psicólogos e em que área |
| Letónia | Serviços e provedores pagos pelo Estado | Nacionālais veselības dienests | Quais clínicas o estado paga e qual é a contribuição do paciente |
| Lituânia | Licenças de saúde | Agência Estadual de Credenciamento de Saúde (VASPVT) | Que um médico ou instituição esteja licenciada para prestar cuidados de saúde |
| Lituânia | Lista de prática de psicólogos | Introduzido pela lei de prática dos psicólogos | Que um psicólogo atenda aos requisitos legais para exercer a profissão |
| Lituânia | Informações de saúde pública | Ministério da Saúde e Instituto de Higiene | Quais serviços existem e onde são fornecidos |
| Suécia | Registro de pessoal de saúde licenciado (HoSP) | Socialstyrelsen (Conselho Nacional de Saúde e Bem-Estar) | Que um psicólogo, psicoterapeuta ou médico possua uma licença sueca |
| Suécia | Autoridade supervisora | IVO (Inspeção de Saúde e Assistência Social) | Reclamações, inspeções e restrições à prática |
| Suécia | Localizador de cuidados e conselhos | 1177 | Quais clínicas existem, o que tratam e como agendar |
| Suécia | Associação de psicólogos | Associação Psicológica Sueca | Associação e especialização – um suplemento, não prova de licença |
| Norway | Health personnel register (HPR) | Helsedirektoratet (Directorate of Health) | That a psychologist, specialist or doctor holds a Norwegian authorisation |
| Norway | Health service guide | Helsenorge | How the schemes work, what they cost and how to change your GP |
| Norway | Associação de psicólogos | Norsk psykologforening | Membership and specialist status — a supplement, not proof of authorisation |
| Norway | Patient and user ombudsman | Pasient- og brukerombudet | Free help with rights, complaints and being heard |
| Denmark | Authorisation register | Styrelsen for Patientsikkerhed (Patient Safety Authority) | That a doctor or health professional is authorised, and whether the authorisation is restricted |
| Denmark | Psychologist authorisation | Psykolognævnet (Psychology Board) | That a psychologist is authorised, which is what "autoriseret psykolog" means |
| Denmark | Health service portal | Sundhed.dk | Your own records, your GP, and how the schemes work |
| Denmark | Complaints authority | Styrelsen for Patientklager (Patient Complaints Authority) | Where a formal complaint about treatment goes |
Fontes:JulkiTerhikki (Finland) · Socialstyrelsen (Sweden) · Helsedirektoratet (Norway) · Styrelsen for Patientsikkerhed (Denmark) · Kutseregister (Estonia) · Veselības inspekcija (Latvia)· Regras, direitos e números de linha de apoio mudam: verifique a página da própria operadora antes de confiar em uma. Verificado2026-09-08.
Perguntas frequentes
Como posso verificar se um terapeuta está qualificado?
Search the public register in the country they practise in — the licence or authorisation register for doctors, psychologists and, in Finland and Sweden, psychotherapists, and the professional certificate or certification register where the country uses one. Every register named on this page is public and free.
The person is not in the register. Is that a problem?
Possibly, but ask first. People practise under other names, foreign qualifications appear under different headings, and some countries do not register psychotherapy qualifications at all. Ask which register they appear in and under what name; a straight answer is normal, evasion is not.
What does association membership prove?
That the person joined an organisation with entry requirements and an ethics code, and that there is a body to complain to. It is a real signal, particularly in countries where the title is not protected — but it is not a state licence and should not be described as one.
What are the clear warning signs?
Refusing to name a qualification, guaranteeing a cure, telling you to stop a prescribed medicine, pressure to pay for long packages up front, any social, financial or romantic contact outside the therapy, and discouraging you from seeing a doctor or telling anyone.
Getting in
How referrals actually work
What a referral is, which countries require one for mental-health care, what makes a good one, and what to do when it does not happen.
Waiting lists, guarantees and what to do meanwhile
The published access rules in each country, how to read a queue, and a realistic plan for the months in between.
Free and low-cost routes
Every route in this region that costs nothing or very little — with the eligibility rule that goes with each, because most of them have one.
Online and remote therapy
What remote sessions change, which country’s rules apply when the therapist is over a border, and where video is the wrong format.
Therapy in your own language
Why the working language is clinical rather than cosmetic, what interpreting you are entitled to, and how to search for Russian, English, Ukrainian or Estonian-speaking help.
Todos os países e guias
O centro: as cinco profissões comparadas, sete sistemas nacionais, todos os registos públicos e todas as linhas de crise.
Como isso funciona onde você mora
Cada regra nesta página é filtrada pelo sistema de um país antes de chegar até você. As páginas do país trazem as portas, os registros e os números.
Estônia · Finlândia · Letónia · Lituânia · Suécia · Norway · Denmark
Mantenha o registro que a consulta solicitará
Sono, humor, atividade e medicamentos, datados e em um só lugar. Torna uma avaliação melhor, torna uma revisão honesta e é a diferença entre “pior ultimamente” e duas semanas de provas.