Mental Health Licensing & Regulation in Turkey: 2026 Guide

Turkish law treats mental health work in three tiers. Psychiatrists are physicians, licensed under the same medical law that has governed doctors since 1928.¹ Clinical psychologists have a narrower statutory recognition, added to that same law in 2011.² A plain psychologist or psychotherapist has neither of those: no protected title, no state licence, no government register. One provision, covered below, applies to psychologists who hold Ministry-approved certified training in the medical applications of psychology.

This guide sets out who regulates what, which titles are actually protected under Turkish law, and how to check a specific practitioner's credentials. Use it before you trust or book someone.

---

Quick answer: is this practitioner licensed in Turkey?

The answer differs by title. A psychiatrist must hold a medical faculty diploma and register as a doctor, under the same law that has governed Turkish medical practice since 1928.¹ A clinical psychologist has a narrower, more recent form of recognition, added to that law in 2011: assessment on their own authority, and psychotherapy only within limits set out below.²

A plain psychologist has neither. There is no state licensing board and no government register for that title. Instead, you confirm the degree with the university that issued it.

If you need support right now

If you or someone with you is in immediate danger, call 112, Türkiye's emergency number.

For support that is not an emergency, the Ministry of Family and Social Services runs Alo 183, the Sosyal Destek Hattı. Calls are answered by specialist staff who provide guidance and counselling, and the line operates on a 7/24 basis.⁴ It serves families, women, children, disabled people, older people, and the families of those killed or wounded in service.

If you have seen 182 listed elsewhere as a mental health line, it is not one. The Ministry of Health lists Alo 182 as the Merkezi Hastane Randevu Sistemi, the central hospital appointment booking system.⁵ Calling it in a crisis reaches a scheduling service.

The Ministry also publishes Alo 184 as its communication centre, Alo 171 for smoking cessation, and 444 3 833 for home health.⁵

Türkiye has no dedicated national suicide-prevention line that we were able to verify against an official source. You can also go to a nearby emergency service, hospital or mental health clinic, or use these helplines and crisis lines worldwide.

Who regulates what in Turkey

Turkey has no dedicated Mental Health Act in force. The Psychiatric Association of Turkey has published a draft of one.³ So the 1928 medical practice law, and its 2011 amendment, remain what actually governs mental health practice.

Four bodies share what oversight does exist, and each covers a different slice of the field.

• Ministry of Health (saglik.gov.tr): regulates psychiatrists as physicians and approves new mental health service facilities.
• Ministry of National Education, MEB (meb.gov.tr): appoints the guidance counsellors who provide psychological services inside schools.
• Council of Higher Education, YÖK (yok.gov.tr): accredits the university programmes behind the titles on this page.
• Turkish Psychological Association, TPA (psikolog.org.tr): the profession's own standards body. It runs a code of ethics. Membership is not a legal requirement to practise, and we could find no public member directory or programme-accreditation record for it.

None of these four bodies is a licensing board for the general title "psychologist".

Is "psychologist" a protected, licensed title in Turkey?

Not in the way it is in many countries. South Africa's HPCSA, the UK's HCPC, and US state psychology boards each keep a government register searchable by licence number. Turkey has no equivalent register for psikolog.

The law names two mental-health titles specifically. One is the physician, who needs the medical faculty diploma described above. The other is the clinical psychologist, added as a distinct health-profession category in 2011. The statute sets the route: a psychology or psychological-counselling-and-guidance degree plus a clinical psychology master's including supervised clinical practice, or another degree plus a psychology or clinical psychology master's and a clinical psychology doctorate. A plain psychologist holds neither of those titles. The same 2011 provision does reach them at one point: a psychologist who has completed Ministry-of-Health-approved certified training in the medical applications of psychology, with documented competence, may work in medical applications within their certified areas.²

So instead of a licence number, run a university-degree confirmation: see "How to verify a practitioner" below.

Can a psychologist diagnose or prescribe medication in Turkey?

No, not a plain psychologist. Law No. 1219 requires a medical faculty diploma to practise medicine or treat a patient in any way whatsoever, and only a licensed physician holds one.¹

A clinical psychologist has a narrower, more limited role, added to that law in 2011 as Ek Madde 13(a). They can carry out psychological assessment on their own authority. They can also provide psychotherapy, but only for conditions that international diagnostic systems do not classify as an illness and that the Ministry of Health has deemed appropriate.² Where the condition does count as an illness, they may still provide psychotherapy, but only on a specialist physician's diagnosis and referral. A clinical psychologist may therefore assess, but may not give you a diagnosis of an illness and may not prescribe: under Law No. 1219 both remain with a licensed physician.

A plain psychologist, without the clinical designation, holds no diagnostic or prescribing role under the law, and no protected title. The provision does address them once: with Ministry-of-Health-approved certified training in the medical applications of psychology and documented competence, a psychologist may work in medical applications within the areas that certificate covers. What may be done independently, and what only on a specialist physician's diagnosis and referral, is left to a Ministry regulation.

The five professional categories at a glance

Turkey groups mental health work into five titles. Each carries a different regulator, a different registration step, and a different scope.

How to verify a practitioner

The check differs by title, because Turkey has no single register that covers all five. Work out which title the practitioner is actually using, then run the matching step.

• Psychologist or clinical psychologist: contact the university named on the degree to confirm it. We could find no public way to confirm TPA membership directly; if a practitioner names TPA membership, that claim itself is not independently checkable from this page.
• Clinical psychologist specifically: ask which clinical psychology master's or doctorate they hold, and where the supervised clinical practice was done. Law No. 1219 sets those as the qualifying route.²
• School counsellor: confirm through the school itself that MEB has certified and appointed them.
• Psychiatrist: check registration with the relevant regional medical chamber. A genuine psychiatrist will hold the medical faculty diploma Law No. 1219 requires,¹ and under the same law that diploma counts only once the Ministry has certified and registered it.¹

If something goes wrong: complaints

Where you complain follows the same title-by-title split as verification.

For a TPA member, TPA's own code of ethics governs professional conduct, but we could find no published description of TPA's specific complaint-intake process for a member of the public. For a psychiatrist, the regional medical chamber that registers physicians is the equivalent first point of contact, alongside the Ministry of Health. For a school counsellor, that is the school itself, then MEB.

Where none of these apply, because the person held no registration at all, general consumer-protection and civil-liability routes still exist for fraudulent or harmful claims. We could find no Turkey-specific source describing exactly how those work in practice.

Red flags to watch for

• Cannot show a university degree in psychology, or point you to a verifiable programme.
• Claims a qualification you cannot confirm with any university or professional body.
• A "psychologist" who offers to diagnose an illness or prescribe medication. Under Law No. 1219, treating a patient in any way whatsoever requires a medical faculty diploma.¹
• Cannot describe where they did supervised clinical training, or who supervised it.
• Uses the title "Klinik Psikolog" but cannot show the clinical psychology master's or doctorate the law requires for it.²

Finding a verified therapist in Turkey

TherapyRoute's own Turkey listings are a starting point. Run the checks above on any therapist you are considering, regardless of where you found them. For general guidance on choosing a therapist, see how to find the right therapist.

Sources, and when this page was reviewed

Each reference below names the source the statement it supports was checked against. This page was reviewed in August 2026.

Team TherapyRoute

References

1. [1] Tababet ve Şuabatı San'atlarının Tarzı İcrasına Dair Kanun (Law No. 1219, 1928, as amended 2011), Article 1: within Turkey, practising medicine and treating a patient in any way whatsoever requires holding a medical faculty diploma. mevzuat.gov.tr/mevzuatmetin/1.3.1219.pdf.
2. [2] Law No. 1219, Ek Madde 13(a) (added 2011), COMPLETE sub-paragraph: defines the clinical psychologist and the qualifying degrees; sets the assessment and psychotherapy scope (non-illness conditions the Ministry deems appropriate; illness only on specialist-physician diagnosis and referral); AND provides that psychologists with Ministry-approved certified training in the medical applications of psychology, competence documented, may take part in medical applications within their certificated areas. mevzuat.gov.tr/mevzuatmetin/1.3.1219.pdf.
3. [3] Türkiye Psikiyatri Derneği (Psychiatric Association of Turkey), Ruh Sağlığı Yasası Taslağı — the association's own published DRAFT Mental Health Law. A draft published by the association, not law in force. psikiyatri.org.tr.
4. [4] T.C. Saglik Bakanligi, Kocaeli Il Saglik Mudurlugu, "Alo 183 Sosyal Destek Hatti Hizmetinizde" (8 Kasim 2022): the Ministry of Family and Social Services' Alo 183 Social Support Line serves families, women, children, disabled people and older people; calls are answered by specialist staff providing guidance and counselling, and the line operates 7/24. kocaeliism.saglik.gov.tr.
5. [5] T.C. Saglik Bakanligi, "Alo 182 - Merkezi Hastane Randevu Sistemi": the Ministry of Health publishes Alo 182 as the central hospital appointment booking system (MHRS), not as a mental health or crisis line. saglik.gov.tr.

This page reflects the statute text and professional-body materials we held as of this review, including the relevant sections of Law No. 1219 itself. Türkiye has no dedicated national suicide-prevention line we could verify against an official source, so the emergency number and the Ministry of Family and Social Services' support line are given above alongside the worldwide crisis resources. We also found no reliable current count of practising professionals, so this page gives none. Verify current requirements directly with the bodies named here before relying on any single check.