Addiction Psychotherapists in Chennai

Addiction covers alcohol, other drugs, and behaviours such as gambling. Psychological treatment is only one part of addiction care.

For drug use disorders, the WHO and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime list treatments that work, including cognitive-behavioural therapy, motivational interviewing, contingency management and family therapy ¹.

Guidelines recommend a range of treatments for opioid dependence ². Those include maintenance treatment with methadone or buprenorphine, alongside psychosocial treatment and support.

Detoxification on its own does not treat a drug use disorder. Ask a practitioner what they treat, and where they refer.

Everyone on this page describes their work as psychotherapy. A psychotherapist works through talking with you about your thoughts, feelings and behaviours.

Psychotherapy usually runs longer than counselling and aims for clinical change. It works on patterns that repeat rather than on one current problem.

A psychotherapist trains in psychological treatment rather than in medicine. What that training covers, and which approach a practitioner uses, differ between practitioners. Ask which approach a psychotherapist trained in, and how long they usually work.

Our Chennai fee guide puts a session at ₹500 to ₹2,500. Those are advertised prices.

Government Kilpauk Medical College Department of Psychiatry. Phone +91 44 28364951. Section 18 of the Mental Healthcare Act 2017 makes government-funded mental health treatment free for people living below the poverty line, and for people who are destitute or homeless. Essential psychotropic medicines are free to all patients at government-funded establishments. The psychiatry outpatient clinic sees new and review patients from Monday to Saturday, 08:00 to 12:00. The free care under the statute is only for those protected groups.

See the India page for the professions that do carry a register there.