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When treatment goes wrong
The difference between a bad fit and misconduct, who to complain to in each country, and what a complaint can actually achieve.
This is a map of how the systems work, not a diagnosis and not a treatment plan. It names no practice and no private price, because neither can be kept accurate here. It cannot tell you what is wrong or which treatment you need — that is a clinician's job, and it starts with an appointment. Never stop or change a prescribed medicine on the strength of a web page. If someone's life is in danger right now, call the emergency number: 112 anywhere in the EU and EEA.
Three different problems, three different addresses
People arrive at this subject with one word — complaint — and three quite different situations. The first is a bad fit or an unhelpful course, which is not misconduct and is best handled by raising it in the room or changing therapist. The second is care that went wrong: a mistake, a poor decision, a service that did not deliver what it should have. The third is professional misconduct: a boundary breach, a relationship, a breach of confidentiality, practising outside a qualification, working while unfit. These go to different places, and sending the third to the address for the second is how a serious matter ends up as a customer-service reply.
What counts as misconduct
It is more specific than "I did not like it", and every professional code in this region prohibits the same core list. Any sexual or romantic contact with a client, during treatment and for a defined period afterwards. Financial entanglement — loans, business dealings, selling investments or products. Breaching confidentiality outside the narrow exceptions. Practising a treatment you are not trained in, or working while impaired. Instructing a client to stop a prescribed medicine. Isolating a client from family, from friends, or from other clinicians. Continuing to charge for treatment that is doing nothing while discouraging a second opinion. Any of these is a reportable matter rather than a difference of style.
Write it down at the time
Complaints in this field turn on records, and the records are usually thin because both parties assumed they would remember. Keep dates and times of appointments, what was said in the moments that concerned you, in the person’s own words where you can, and any messages, invoices or agreements. Note when you raised the concern and what the reply was. If you decide to stop, request your records — you generally have a right of access to your own health record in every country here — and do it before the relationship becomes adversarial rather than after.
What a complaint can and cannot do
A supervisory body can investigate, criticise, impose conditions on practice, and in serious cases suspend or withdraw a licence or authorisation. It cannot usually award you money, and it does not undo what happened. A patient ombudsman or patients’ committee, where one exists, is a different and often better first stop: free, independent, and there to help you formulate what you want and get it heard, including in cases that are about being stuck rather than about blame. Compensation for injury caused by treatment is a separate system again in several of these countries. Being clear about which outcome you want makes the choice of address obvious.
A complaint is not a betrayal
The most common reason people do not report is loyalty — to a person who has also helped them, or to a service that is under strain. Two things are worth saying. Professional regulation exists because the imbalance of information and vulnerability in this particular room is unusually large, which is exactly why the codes are strict. And a report is often the second or the fifth about the same person; patterns are how regulators see anything at all. Reporting is not an accusation of criminality and it does not require certainty. It requires an account.
| Country | Care that went wrong | The professional’s fitness to practise |
|---|---|---|
| Estonia | The provider first, then the Health Board and the Health Insurance Fund | Terviseamet for health professionals; the certifying body for psychologists |
| Finland | The unit’s patient ombudsman, then the supervisory authority | The Licensing and Supervision Agency, which took over Valvira’s duties |
| Latvia | Veselības inspekcija (Health Inspectorate) | Veselības inspekcija; the certification body for psychologists |
| Lithuania | The institution, then the Ministry of Health’s complaint route | State Health Care Accreditation Agency (VASPVT) |
| Sweden | The region’s patients’ committee (patientnämnd) | IVO, the Health and Social Care Inspectorate |
| Norway | Pasient- og brukerombudet, free and independent | Statsforvalteren in your county, and the national health supervisory authority |
| Denmark | Styrelsen for Patientklager (Patient Complaints Authority) | Styrelsen for Patientsikkerhed; Psykolognævnet for psychologists |
Sources: IVO — Health and Social Care Inspectorate, Sweden · Pasient- og brukerombudet, Norway · Styrelsen for Patientklager, Denmark · Veselības inspekcija, Latvia · Terviseamet, Estonia · Lupa- ja valvontavirasto, Finland · Rules, entitlements and helpline numbers change: check the operator's own page before you rely on one. Checked 2026-09-08.
Frequently asked questions
What counts as therapist misconduct?
Sexual or romantic contact, financial entanglement, breaching confidentiality outside the narrow exceptions, practising outside your training, working while impaired, telling a client to stop a prescribed medicine, isolating a client from family or other clinicians, and charging for ineffective treatment while discouraging a second opinion.
Where do I complain?
It depends on the problem. Care that went wrong usually goes to a patient ombudsman or patients’ committee first, then the health supervisory body. Questions about a professional’s fitness to practise go to the licensing or registration authority. The country table on this page lists both for each of the seven countries.
What can a complaint achieve?
A supervisory body can investigate, criticise, impose conditions and in serious cases suspend or withdraw a licence. It usually cannot award compensation — that is a separate system in several of these countries — and it cannot undo what happened.
Do I need proof before I report?
No. You need an account. Regulators work from patterns, and a report is often not the first about the same person. Keep dates, what was said in the person’s own words, messages and invoices, and request your records before the relationship becomes adversarial.
Crisis and when it goes wrong
Crisis: what to do right now
The numbers for each country, what happens when you call, how to help someone else, and how to make a plan while you are well.
All countries and guides
The hub: the five professions compared, seven country systems, every public register and every crisis line.
How this works where you live
Every rule on this page is filtered through one country's system before it reaches you. The country pages carry the doors, the registers and the numbers.
Estonia · Finland · Latvia · Lithuania · Sweden · Norway · Denmark
Keep the record the appointment will ask for
Sleep, mood, activity and medicines, dated and in one place. It makes an assessment better, it makes a review honest, and it is the difference between "worse lately" and two weeks of evidence.