Authority and scope
Check the license and concern
Psychologists, social workers, and Allied Mental Health and Human Services professionals use the Bureau of Health Professions Licensure (BHPL) complaint process. The Allied board covers mental-health counselors, marriage-and-family therapists, rehabilitation counselors, educational psychologists, and behavior analysts. Social-work credentials include LICSW, LCSW, LSW, and LSWA. Licensed alcohol and drug counselors (LADCs) have a separate Bureau of Substance Addiction Services (BSAS) route.
Supporting guidance: Psychologists board ↗Social Workers board ↗Allied Mental Health board ↗BSAS LADC and program complaints ↗
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
Psychologists
BHPL complaint intake, linked by the psychology board.
Open this official route ↗Social workers, including LICSW
BHPL intake, linked by the social-work board.
Open this official route ↗Mental-health counselors and marriage-and-family therapists
BHPL intake, linked by the Allied Mental Health board; also its other listed professions.
Open this official route ↗Licensed alcohol and drug counselors
Separate BSAS telephone, fax, or mail intake; also covers specified substance-use programs.
Open this official route ↗How the official source says to file
- BHPL recommends its linked portal. File separately for each practitioner, giving dates, location, license details, witnesses, and supporting copies. You cannot return to edit after submitting.
- BHPL’s portal includes treatment-record authorization. Request a paper packet at 617-973-0865 or bhplcomplaints@mass.gov; the contact email does not itself establish email filing.
- For an LADC or covered substance-use program, call BSAS’s confidential complaint line, 617-624-5171; fax 617-887-8787; or mail Quality Assurance and Licensing Unit – CIB BSAS, Department of Public Health, 67 Forest Street, 3rd Floor, Marlborough, MA 01752.
Supporting guidance: BHPL complaint instructions ↗BSAS LADC and program complaints ↗
What this route may not provide
BHPL excludes ordinary fee/billing disputes and personality conflicts. BSAS’s route covers LADCs and licensed or funded substance-use programs. Confirm separate facility jurisdiction for other institutional complaints. Refund powers were not established. Psychiatrist concerns use the medical guide; psychiatric advanced-practice nurses use the nursing guide.
Supporting guidance: BHPL complaint instructions ↗BSAS LADC and program complaints ↗
Do not guess about confidentiality
BHPL may investigate anonymous reports supported without the filer’s identity or testimony; anonymous filers receive no outcome notice. The practitioner may receive the complaint. BSAS calls its telephone line confidential, which does not establish anonymous filing or protection against later disclosure.
Supporting guidance: BHPL complaint instructions ↗BSAS LADC and program complaints ↗
No patient filing deadline established; BHPL cases can take years.
A filing deadline was not established by this check; ask promptly. BHPL’s month-to-years estimates concern processing. BSAS’s page supplies no investigation timetable.
Supporting guidance: BHPL complaint instructions ↗
What may happen after filing
BHPL may investigate, close, or pursue discipline or a non-disciplinary resolution; disciplinary actions are public. BSAS’s page establishes intake, but not detailed investigation or notification procedures.
Supporting guidance: BHPL complaint instructions ↗
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.
Read the linked authority and process information ↗
Sources and scope
BHPL complaint instructions ↗
Submission, records authorization, anonymity, exclusions, and processing.
Source checked: September 19, 2026
Psychologists board ↗
Psychology jurisdiction and link to BHPL complaint intake.
Source checked: September 19, 2026
Social Workers board ↗
License categories and link to BHPL intake.
Source checked: September 19, 2026
Allied Mental Health board ↗
Counseling, MFT, and other professions; BHPL intake link.
Source checked: September 19, 2026
BSAS LADC and program complaints ↗
Separate addiction-professional and program scope; telephone, fax, and mailing instructions.
Source checked: September 19, 2026
Source check: September 19, 2026. 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.