Authority and scope
Check the license and concern
LARA’s complaint page expressly includes Psychology, Counseling, Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy, and Behavior Analysts in the professions using MiPLUS. Identify the actual Michigan license and select its profession. An addiction counselor may also hold one of these licenses, but a separate route for an addiction-only credential was not established. Ask BPL to identify the regulator before treating a private certification as a state license.
Supporting guidance: BPL complaint intake ↗
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
Select Psychology in MiPLUS.
Open this official route ↗Professional counselors
Select Counseling in MiPLUS.
Open this official route ↗Clinical and other licensed social workers
Select Social Work in MiPLUS.
Open this official route ↗Marriage-and-family therapists
Select Marriage and Family Therapy in MiPLUS.
Open this official route ↗Addiction-only credentials
Limited: BPL contact can help identify jurisdiction; a separate state credential complaint route was not established.
Open this official route ↗Checked steps and filing details to confirm
- Start at the BPL complaint page, choose the health profession, and follow its MiPLUS complaint link. The shared page explicitly places the four main therapist professions in that intake.
- Provide your name and contact information, the practitioner’s name and profession, specific events with dates and locations, and people who can supply supporting information. Preserve relevant correspondence and a copy of your submission.
- For help with the correct profession or a record-release request, contact Complaint Intake at 517-241-0205 or BPL-Complaints@michigan.gov. The published contact address is not itself confirmation that email replaces the online filing process.
Supporting guidance: BPL complaint intake ↗Citizen guide to health-professional complaints ↗
What this route may not provide
BPL evaluates possible Public Health Code violations involving licensed or registered practitioners. Its disciplinary subcommittee can impose restrictions, education conditions, fines, probation, suspension, or revocation, or dismiss the case. These sources do not establish a consumer compensation or refund remedy. A clinic or treatment-program complaint requires separate confirmation of facility jurisdiction. Psychiatrist and psychiatric advanced-practice-nurse complaints should follow the medical and nursing guides.
Supporting guidance: What happens after filing ↗
Do not guess about confidentiality
The citizen guide discourages anonymous complaints because missing follow-up information can cause closure. It says the complainant’s identity is confidential and disclosed with a written release; disclosure may be requested for an administrative hearing. This is different from concealing the allegations. Formal administrative complaints and emergency suspension orders are publicly searchable.
Supporting guidance: Citizen guide to health-professional complaints ↗
Ask promptly; the licensee’s response period is not your filing deadline.
A filing deadline was not established by this check; ask promptly. The published 30-day response period starts when an administrative complaint is served on the practitioner. It does not give patients a 30-day incident-reporting limit.
Supporting guidance: What happens after filing ↗
What may happen after filing
BPL screens for a possible violation, then closes, refers, or investigates. Investigators interview relevant people and collect evidence; an expert may assess professional standards. Supported allegations can proceed through settlement or a hearing, with the profession’s disciplinary subcommittee deciding the final action. BPL provides closure notices.
Supporting guidance: Citizen guide to health-professional complaints ↗What happens after filing ↗
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
BPL complaint intake ↗
Express list of professions using MiPLUS, including four therapist professions and behavior analysts.
Source checked: September 19, 2026
Citizen guide to health-professional complaints ↗
Preparation, identity confidentiality, anonymous reports, and public formal charges.
Source checked: September 19, 2026
What happens after filing ↗
Screening, investigation, expert review, settlement, hearing, sanctions, and licensee response timing.
Source checked: September 19, 2026
Latest guide source check: September 19, 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.