Authority and scope
Check the license and concern
The Board of Behavioral Health regulates professional counseling, clinical social work, marriage-and-family therapy, addiction counseling, and its regulated peer-support credentials. The Board of Psychologists separately regulates psychologists, behavior analysts, and assistant behavior analysts. Both boards link to the same Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) complaint process. Identify the license or certificate, including any trainee or applicant status, rather than relying on a generic therapist title.
Supporting guidance: Board of Behavioral Health ↗Board of Psychologists ↗
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
Counselors, social workers, MFTs, addiction and regulated peer-support credentials
Board of Behavioral Health uses shared DLI intake.
Open this official route ↗Psychologists and regulated behavior analysts
Separate Board of Psychologists uses the same DLI intake.
Open this official route ↗How the official source says to file
- Use DLI’s online complaint link or signed written form. Mail to PO Box 200514, Helena, MT 59620-0514, or email DLIBSDCOMPLAINTS@MT.GOV.
- Identify the practitioner and profession, explain what occurred and when, name witnesses, and attach supporting copies. The form asks how you learned of the events and whether other agencies have received the complaint.
- Read the signature declaration before sending. It confirms the accuracy of your statements and authorizes use of your name and personal information for investigation and proof of the allegations. Keep your own complete copy.
Supporting guidance: DLI complaint instructions ↗DLI complaint form ↗
What this route may not provide
DLI’s process addresses professional licensing violations, including practice without a required license. It cannot provide money damages or resolve a private dispute for you. Possible discipline includes fines, license restrictions, suspension, or revocation. Facility issues may belong to the Department of Public Health and Human Services. Psychiatrist and psychiatric advanced-practice-nurse concerns use the medical and nursing guides; private certification alone does not establish either therapist board’s jurisdiction.
Supporting guidance: DLI complaint instructions ↗
Do not guess about confidentiality
DLI generally rejects anonymous complaints. If you know of a serious risk from a practitioner but are concerned about identifying yourself, discuss it with a Compliance Specialist. The practitioner receives the complaint. Investigations and dismissed complaints are confidential unless court-ordered disclosure applies; final disciplinary orders are public.
Supporting guidance: DLI complaint instructions ↗DLI complaint form ↗
Ask promptly; investigation may take months or longer.
A filing deadline was not established by this check; ask promptly. DLI’s months-or-longer estimate concerns processing, not the reporting deadline.
Supporting guidance: DLI complaint instructions ↗
What may happen after filing
A screening panel may close the investigation or pursue charges, settlement, or a hearing. The complainant is not a party and cannot appeal a screening dismissal.
Supporting guidance: DLI 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.
Sources and scope
Board of Behavioral Health ↗
Listed professions and its link to shared complaint intake.
Source checked: September 19, 2026
Board of Psychologists ↗
Psychology/behavior-analysis jurisdiction and shared intake link.
Source checked: September 19, 2026
DLI complaint instructions ↗
Submission, anonymity exception, disclosure, remedy limits, screening, and timing.
Source checked: September 19, 2026
DLI complaint form ↗
Required factual preparation, signature, and name/personal-information authorization.
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.