Authority and scope
Check the license and concern
Colorado’s current Mental Health Practice Act establishes separate boards for psychologists, social workers, professional counselors, marriage/family therapists, unlicensed psychotherapists, and addiction counselors. State-regulated addiction credentials include licensed counselors and certified technicians/specialists; private certification is not automatically the same credential. The law also recognizes prescribing psychologists, who remain psychologists rather than physicians. Identify the exact license, registration, certificate or candidate status.
Supporting guidance: Colorado 2026 statutes: Title 12, Article 245 ↗
Match the route to the credential
Use the license listed in the practitioner’s records or official license lookup. A psychiatrist is a physician; psychiatric nurses have nursing credentials. Some psychologists have prescribing authority, so medication alone does not identify the licensing board.
Choose the right licensing authority
Psychology
Psychologist board, including prescribing psychologists; shared DPO entry; form-specific requirements limited.
Open this official route ↗Professional counseling
Professional-counselor board; shared DPO entry; form-specific requirements limited.
Open this official route ↗Social work
Social-work board; shared DPO entry; form-specific requirements limited.
Open this official route ↗MFT, addiction counseling and unlicensed psychotherapy
Statute confirms separate boards; use the shared DPO entry and select the precise program.
Open this official route ↗Checked steps and filing details to confirm
- DPO’s File a Complaint page offers online filing through Online Services or a downloaded paper complaint mailed to the Division. Select the program matching the exact mental-health credential; the distinct boards share this entry point.
- Read the linked complaint FAQ and selected form before filing. Signature, notarization and patient-record authorization requirements were not established from the accessible filing-page text; do not substitute a licensing application or national directory for a complaint.
- Prepare a dated factual account, the practitioner’s name and credential, relevant copies and witness contacts. Ask DPO how a parent, guardian or other representative should authorize access to therapy records. Insurance claims or coverage disputes have a separate Division of Insurance route.
Supporting guidance: Colorado DPO: File a Complaint ↗
What this route may not provide
The Act gives these boards disciplinary and injunctive powers. Shared online/paper methods are checked; detailed form-specific requirements, repayment remedies and exclusions remain limited. A psychiatrist MD/DO or psychiatric nurse belongs in the medical or nursing guide. A facility or treatment-program concern requires a separate jurisdiction check; identify the individual and organization independently.
Supporting guidance: Colorado 2026 statutes: Title 12, Article 245 ↗
Do not guess about confidentiality
DPO’s published filing page accepts anonymous complaints, but insufficient facts and inability to contact the filer can lead to dismissal. Disclosure to the respondent, therapy-record releases and public-record rules were not established by this page; anonymous acceptance does not promise that surrounding facts cannot identify the patient.
Supporting guidance: Colorado DPO: File a Complaint ↗
Ask promptly; filing deadlines unverified
A filing deadline was not established by this check; ask promptly for the precise credential and conduct. Agency investigation periods and court filing limits are separate questions. No completion estimate is verified here.
What may happen after filing
The statute confirms separate mental-health boards and discipline authority. DPO links a complaint FAQ explaining its process; the detailed screening, investigation and hearing instructions were not retrieved in this check. Ask the selected program about follow-up and how to supply later evidence.
Supporting guidance: Colorado 2026 statutes: Title 12, Article 245 ↗Colorado DPO: File a Complaint ↗
Prepare a reviewable submission
State the concern you want reviewed, give a short chronology and factual consequences, and explain your request. Keep supporting records and follow the receiving authority’s instructions before attaching or sending them.
Sources and scope
Colorado 2026 statutes: Title 12, Article 245 ↗
Sections 12-245-101/202 and profession-specific parts establish six boards, candidate/certificate categories and prescribing psychologists.
Source checked: September 19, 2026
AASCB: counseling regulatory-board directory ↗
Colorado professional-counselor authority and linked DPO program.
Source checked: September 19, 2026
ASPPB: psychology licensing-board directory ↗
Colorado psychology authority and linked program.
Source checked: September 19, 2026
ASWB: licensing authority contacts ↗
Colorado DORA social-work licensing link.
Source checked: September 19, 2026
Colorado DPO: File a Complaint ↗
Official indexed page text read: online/paper filing choices and anonymous acceptance; live page blocked retrieval and downstream FAQ/forms were not read.
Source checked: September 30, 2026
Latest guide source check: September 30, 2026. Individual sources retain their own check dates. This records a review of the linked material, not a decision about your case. No clinical or legal reviewer is identified for this guide. Confirm current instructions with the receiving authority.