Mental Health Licensing & Regulation in China: 2026 Guide

If you are seeing a psychiatrist, psychologist or counsellor in China, or choosing one for yourself or a family member, what each of them may do is set by law. The articles that set out who may do what name three roles: the certified psychiatric physician, staff providing psychological therapy within a treatment facility, and the psychological counsellor. None of the articles we hold defines psychologist as a separate title. If your practitioner calls themselves a psychologist, ask which of those three roles their work falls under. In particular, it helps to know who may actually diagnose and treat a mental illness. This guide sets out what China's mental-health law says about who is qualified to do what, and what that means when you are looking for help.

How mental-health care is regulated in China, in short

The main law is the Mental Health Law of the People's Republic of China.⁵ It was written to regulate mental-health services and to protect the rights of people with mental disorders.¹

Responsibility for the system sits with the government's health authorities. Under the law, the State Council administrative departments of health manage mental-health work for the whole country, and health departments at county level and above manage it in their areas.¹ Other departments, such as civil affairs, public security and education, carry the parts that fall within their own work.

Who may diagnose and treat a mental disorder

This is the part that matters most when you are choosing care. The law reserves the diagnosis of a mental disorder to certified psychiatric physicians, and confines diagnosis and treatment to establishments equipped for it. To carry out diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders, a service must have certified psychiatric physicians and nurses and adequate facilities.³

The law is direct about the diagnosis itself. Diagnosis of mental disorders shall be made by certified psychiatric physicians.³ In practice this means that a formal diagnosis of a mental illness in China comes from a qualified psychiatric doctor working in a proper medical setting, not from a counsellor or a general adviser.

What a counsellor may and may not do

China draws a firm line between psychological counselling and the medical treatment of mental illness. The law expects psychological consultants to work to professional norms and provide counselling services to the public. At the same time it sets a clear limit: a psychological consultant may not carry out psychotherapy, nor diagnose or treat mental disorders.⁴

The law also tells counsellors what to do when they meet something beyond their role. A psychological consultant who finds that a client might have a mental disorder is required to suggest that the person seek treatment at a proper medical establishment. Psychological therapy itself is treated as clinical work: it is to be carried out within treatment facilities, and the staff who provide it may not diagnose mental disorders or write prescriptions.⁴

What this means when you are looking for help

The practical message for a reader is simple. A counsellor in China can support you and help you think things through, but a counsellor is not a substitute for a psychiatric physician for a diagnosis or medical treatment. If what you need is an assessment of whether you have a mental illness, or medication for one, the law points you to a certified psychiatric doctor in a medical facility. If a counsellor suspects something more serious, the law expects them to send you there too.

If a practitioner steps outside those limits

The law does not leave the boundary as advice. It attaches consequences, and it names who enforces them.

Four situations are singled out. A psychological counsellor engaging in psychotherapy or in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. Psychotherapy carried out outside a medical establishment. Psychotherapy personnel diagnosing mental disorders. Psychotherapy personnel prescribing medication or performing surgery.²

Enforcement sits with the administrative departments of health and of industry and commerce under the people's governments at county level or above.²

The sanctions run from an order to correct and a warning through a fine of between 5000 and 10,000 RMB and confiscation of illegal gains. Where the consequences are serious, they extend to a suspension of six months to one year, up to revocation of professional certification or business licence.²

There is a separate civil route. If a psychological counsellor or a person specialising in psychotherapy causes another person physical, property or other losses, they are civilly liable in accordance with law.²

An establishment can be caught by the same rule. One that does not meet the law's requirements and diagnoses or treats mental disorders anyway faces those same health departments. They can order it to stop, give a warning and impose a fine on the same scale.²

Checking a practitioner in China

One thing to be clear about first: this is not a register check. The Mental Health Law sets out who may do what; it does not set up a public list of counsellors to search by name.

What the law does give you is a clear question to ask. For a diagnosis or for medication, ask whether the person is a certified psychiatric physician working in a medical establishment set up for diagnosing and treating mental disorders, because that is what the law requires. For counselling, ask what the person will do if they suspect a mental disorder, since the law expects them to refer you on rather than treat it themselves.

Quick reference

Whoever you see, the safe rule follows the law. A diagnosis of a mental disorder in China comes from a certified psychiatric physician. A counsellor who suspects one should point you towards a medical establishment.

Team TherapyRoute

References

1. [1] Mental Health Law of the People's Republic of China (2012, effective 2013), Articles 1 and 8: the law regulates mental hygiene services and protects the rights of those with mental disorders; the State Council administrative departments of health manage mental-health work for the nation, with health departments at county level and above managing it in their areas. chinalawtranslate.com.
2. [2] Mental Health Law of the People's Republic of China (2012), Articles 72, 73 and 76 (legal liability). Article 76 lists the breaches that reach a member of the public: a psychological counsellor engaging in psychotherapy or in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders; psychotherapy carried out outside a medical establishment; psychotherapy personnel diagnosing mental disorders or prescribing medication or performing surgery. It names the enforcing bodies as the administrative departments of health and of industry and commerce under the people's governments at county level or above, and the sanctions as correction, warning, a fine between 5,000 and 10,000 RMB, confiscation of illegal gains, and where consequences are serious a 6-month to one-year suspension up to revocation of professional certification or business licence, plus civil liability. Translation by China Law Translate. chinalawtranslate.com.
3. [3] Mental Health Law of the PRC, Articles 25 and 29: diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders require certified psychiatric physicians and nurses and adequate facilities; diagnosis of mental disorders shall be made by certified psychiatric physicians. chinalawtranslate.com.
4. [4] Mental Health Law of the PRC, Articles 23 and 51: psychological consultants must not engage in psychotherapy or the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders and must refer suspected cases to a medical establishment; psychological therapy is conducted within treatment facilities and psychotherapy personnel may not diagnose mental disorders or prescribe. chinalawtranslate.com.
5. [5] 中华人民共和国精神卫生法 (Mental Health Law of the People's Republic of China, 2012), official full text published by the National People's Congress. Article 1: the law is formulated to develop mental hygiene undertakings, regulate mental hygiene services and protect the lawful rights and interests of those with mental disorders. npc.gov.cn.