Mental Health Licensing & Regulation in Hungary: 2026 Guide

If you are seeing a psychologist, psychotherapist or psychiatrist in Hungary, or choosing one, it helps to know what each title means and how the law treats it. This guide sets out what Hungarian law says about who may provide therapy, which qualifications are protected, and how you can check that a practitioner is properly registered.

How Hungary regulates mental-health care, in short

Hungary regulates psychology through training and through the health system, rather than by licensing every psychologist. The national report Hungary submitted to the EFTA Surveillance Authority states that the psychologist profession is not regulated as such and that there is no regulatory body for it. There are regulated professional activities which can be practised only with the chartered psychologist qualification.¹

What the titles mean, and who can treat you

The chartered psychologist (okleveles pszichológus) and the clinical psychologist (klinikai szakpszichológus) qualifications are protected, but there is no specific professional title.² Protected here means the qualification itself is safeguarded, not that there is a separate protected job title.

Of the two, it is the clinical specialisation that matters most for treatment, and only a psychologist who has specialised in clinical psychology may provide health care independently.¹

Act CLIV of 1997, Hungary's health act, defines psychotherapy as a therapeutic process based on scientifically founded methods, given in sessions of set length, to help people with psychological or psychosomatic disorders. It may be provided, to individuals or groups, by a physician or by a graduate psychologist who holds the required qualification.³

Becoming a psychotherapist is a further step on top of a base profession. For psychologists, a clinical-psychology specialisation is a prerequisite, and the training programmes vary between 24-36 months depending on the basic specialisation. The specialisation is listed in Hungarian as pszichoterápia, and specialist physicians can also take it.⁴

The law also sets safeguards around treatment. A medical examination is required before psychotherapy starts. A clinical psychologist is obliged to obtain medical consultations where the patient's condition justifies it.³

A physician who practises psychotherapy may combine medication with the therapy.³

The specialist training and continuing education for clinical psychologists is, under the Act, set by the health minister in a decree coordinated with the professional chambers.⁶

How to check a practitioner is registered

Health professionals whose qualification was gained or recognised in Hungary are entered on a Basic Register, which confirms that the person holds a qualification usable in health care. Health care worker is a wide category in Hungarian health law, covering doctors, dentists, pharmacists and others with a recognised professional qualification, so it is not limited to any one profession.⁵ Those actually practising also hold an operational registration, with a registration card.⁷ A qualification earned outside Hungary has to be recognised in Hungary before its holder appears on the Basic Register.

This is not a formality. As a rule, Act CLIV of 1997 requires healthcare activity to be conducted by a person who is listed in the operations registry, and independent practice may begin only after the specialised qualification has been registered there.⁸ For anyone treating you inside the Hungarian health system, being on the register is a legal condition of doing the work.

Both registers are kept by the National Directorate General for Hospitals, known as OKFŐ. Every registered professional has a unique registration number, and you can check it yourself on the public database at kereso.enkk.hu.⁷ The Act itself assigns the operational registry to the professional chamber corresponding to the level of qualifications, or where there is no such chamber, to the Ministry of Health;⁸ OKFŐ is the body that maintains both registers now.⁷ The register is open by design. The names of healthcare workers in the categories the Act lists are treated in law as data registered in the public interest.⁸ The search page states that what it holds is set by legislation and open to anyone (jogszabály által meghatározott, bárki számára hozzáférhető).⁹

Using the search

The page is in Hungarian. Two things stop the search working, and a third narrows the results. Knowing them first saves a wasted attempt.

A name, or part of a name, is compulsory: a név vagy névrészlet megadása minden esetben kötelező. A registration number on its own is not enough.⁹ A fragment of the name will do.

You can narrow the results by the kind of qualification held. One option covers a healthcare worker with a clinical qualification (klinikai végzettségű egészségügyi dolgozó), and the others cover doctors and dentists, pharmacists, and other healthcare staff. If you are not sure which applies, leave it blank, since filling this in is not compulsory (ezen adatok megadása nem kötelező).⁹

The last step before the search button works is to drag the slider at the foot of the form, which closes off the search parameters (a keresési paraméterek megadása lezárttá válik).⁹ Nothing happens until you do.

One more thing is worth knowing. A person's működési nyilvántartási szám, their operational registration number, is always the same as their alapnyilvántartási szám, the basic registration number.⁹ So there is only one number to ask them for.

Quick reference

Whatever the title, the surest check is the public register: search their name and check the registration number against the result at kereso.enkk.hu.

If you have a concern

The register is a live record rather than a one-off qualification certificate. Registration is renewed rather than granted once and for all.⁸

A person is deleted from the register if they do not renew it. They are also deleted on a court decision imposing a prison sentence of more than one year, or one banning pursuit of the occupation. The same follows a health authority finding of permanent unfitness, deliberately false registration data, or a failure to certify due continuing education.⁸

So a missing entry is worth asking about, as long as you know what you are looking at. Someone working as a general psychologist outside the health system need not appear there at all. If the person presents as a clinical psychologist, a psychotherapist or a doctor working in health care, they should.

Making a complaint about care

If your concern is about treatment you received, the law sets out what you can do. A patient has the right to lodge a complaint with the health service provider, or with the entity that maintains it.¹⁰

The provider or maintaining entity must investigate the complaint and inform you of the findings in writing within 10 working days. Complaints are registered, and the papers are kept for five years.¹⁰

Complaining to the provider does not remove your other options. The Act states this directly: it "shall not affect the patient's right to turn to other agencies", and the provider is obliged to draw your attention to that.¹⁰

Hungary has a statutory patient advocate, whose role includes helping patients put a complaint into words and getting an investigation started. On your written authorisation, the advocate can lodge the complaint with the head of the institution and act for you before the competent authorities.¹⁰

One limit matters here. That process applies inside the health system. Because the general psychology profession is not regulated, there are no special profession-specific rules protecting the public beyond ordinary market rules,² so someone practising outside health care falls under ordinary consumer law instead. That is the practical reason to check the register before you book: inside the health system the complaint route above applies, and outside it you have only ordinary consumer protection.

Team TherapyRoute

References

1. [1] EFTA Surveillance Authority — Hungary national report on the psychologist profession: only psychologists with a clinical-psychology specialisation may deliver health care independently; the psychologist profession is not regulated as such and there is no regulatory body, but certain activities require the chartered psychologist (okleveles pszichologus) qualification. eftasurv.int.
2. [2] EFTA Surveillance Authority — Hungary national report: the clinical psychologist (klinikai szakpszichologus) qualification is protected; because the general psychologist profession is not regulated, no specific protective rules apply beyond general market rules. eftasurv.int.
3. [3] Act CLIV of 1997 on Health (Hungary), Section 103 — Psychotherapy and Specialized Clinical Psychology: psychotherapy may be provided by a physician or a graduate psychologist with the required qualification; a physician psychotherapist may combine pharmaceutical treatment and psychotherapy. patientsrights.hu/dokumentumletoltes.php.
4. [4] EFTA Surveillance Authority — Hungary national report: clinical-psychology specialisations include clinical addictology and psychotherapy; a clinical-psychology specialisation is a prerequisite, and training programmes last 24-36 months. eftasurv.int.
5. [5] Act CLIV of 1997 on Health (Hungary), Section 3 — definition of 'health care worker' (medical doctor, dental surgeon, pharmacist, person with higher-level professional qualification, etc.). patientsrights.hu/dokumentumletoltes.php.
6. [6] Act CLIV of 1997 on Health (Hungary) — specialist education of specialist clinical psychologists is set by the Minister of Health in a decree coordinated with the professional chambers. patientsrights.hu/dokumentumletoltes.php.
7. [7] National Directorate General for Hospitals (OKFŐ) — Basic and Operational Registers of health professionals: OKFŐ maintains both registers; the Basic Register attests a qualification usable for healthcare activity; an operational registration card is issued to those effectively pursuing healthcare activity; each professional has a unique registration number checkable at the public database kereso.enkk.hu. enkk.hu.
8. [8] Act CLIV of 1997 on Health, Sections 110-113 (operational registry of healthcare workers): healthcare activity shall be conducted by a person listed in the operations registry; independent activity may begin only after the specialised qualification is registered; the registry is maintained by the professional chamber or the Ministry of Health; the healthcare worker names and qualification data are data registered in the public interest; registration is renewed; and a person is deleted from the registry for non-renewal, a court decision banning pursuit of occupation, permanent unfitness, false data, or failure to certify continuing education. patientsrights.hu/dokumentumletoltes.php.
9. [9] National Directorate General for Hospitals / Országos Kórházi Főigazgatóság (OKFŐ), "Alap- és Működési kereső" — the public basic-and-operational register search. States the data shown is defined by law and accessible to anyone (jogszabály által meghatározott, bárki számára hozzáférhető); a name or part-name is compulsory and a registration number alone is not enough; results can be narrowed by register type including "Klinikai végzettség" (clinical qualification); the slider must be dragged before searching; and the operational registration number is always the same as the basic registration number. kereso.enkk.hu.
10. [10] Act CLIV of 1997 on Health (Hungary), Sections 29-30 (Investigation of the Complaints of Patients; The Patient Advocate): a patient may lodge a complaint with the health service provider or the maintaining entity, which shall investigate it and inform the patient of the findings in writing within 10 working days; the exercise of the right to complain shall not affect the patient's right to turn to other agencies and the service provider shall draw the patient's attention to that; complaints shall be registered and the documents kept for 5 years; the patient advocate assists patients with verbalizing their complaints and initiating the investigation thereof, and on the patient's written authorization lodges a complaint with the head of the health care institution or the maintaining entity and takes actions with the competent authorities. patientsrights.hu/dokumentumletoltes.php.