New York Behavioral health Complaint Route

Authority and scope

Check the license and concern

OPD handles the NYSED professions: psychologists, social workers, mental-health counselors, marriage/family therapists, creative arts therapists and psychoanalysts; its profession index also lists applied behavior analysis. OASAS separately oversees addiction credentials, including CASAC, trainee/provisional certificates, prevention credentials and problem-gambling counseling credentials. OASAS credential investigations are distinct from Justice Center investigations. Its credential page identifies the New York Certification Board as the overseer of CRPA peer credentials.

Supporting guidance: NYSED profession index ↗NYSED mental-health practitioner professions ↗OASAS credentialing ↗OASAS credential complaint investigation ↗

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 and applied behavior analysis

NYSED professional-discipline instructions.

Open this official route ↗

Clinical and other social workers

NYSED professional-discipline instructions.

Open this official route ↗

Mental-health counselors, MFTs, creative arts therapists and psychoanalysts

NYSED professional-discipline instructions.

Open this official route ↗

OASAS addiction and related credentials

Separate credentialing process; complaint destination confirmed, detailed intake requirements limited.

Open this official route ↗

Submission

Checked steps and filing details to confirm

For OPD, complete and sign the written complaint, describe events and attach copies of supporting papers. Mail it to the regional OPD office nearest the incident or fax 212-951-6420. Telephone and conduct@nysed.gov provide information; complaints cannot be filed by telephone.
OPD’s treatment-information authorization must be signed and dated by you and a witness aged 18 or older; notarization is unnecessary. It permits release from the named professional or facility. You may leave it blank, but that can delay investigation. Ask about authority to sign for another patient.
For an OASAS credential holder or applicant, follow File a Complaint on the OASAS credentialing page. Its current intake fields, signature requirements, representative consent and attachments remain unverified; ask the Credentialing Unit for those instructions. Do not send that complaint to OPD solely because the person provides counseling.

Supporting guidance: OPD complaint instructions ↗OASAS credentialing ↗

Limits

What this route may not provide

OPD does not adjudicate ordinary fee disputes, but fraudulent billing or work not performed or performed poorly can merit review. A professional complaint is separate from a malpractice action. Program or facility concerns need their own route. For psychiatrist MD/DO complaints use the medical guide; psychiatric advanced-practice nurses use the nursing guide, even though NYSED also regulates nursing.

Supporting guidance: OPD complaint instructions ↗OPD enforcement FAQ ↗OASAS credential complaint investigation ↗

Anonymity

Do not guess about confidentiality

OPD complaints that do not produce discipline are confidential; formal disciplinary records are available. Anonymous acceptance and protection of identity from the practitioner were not established. OASAS says supervisors/management and people interviewed may learn of the complaint; its checked process does not promise complainant anonymity.

Supporting guidance: OPD enforcement FAQ ↗OASAS credential complaint investigation ↗

Complaint timing

A filing deadline was not established by this check; ask promptly.

A filing deadline was not established by this check; ask promptly. OPD says almost all investigations finish within nine months, while complicated cases can take two years or more through final action. These are processing estimates, not deadlines; no OASAS completion estimate was established.

Supporting guidance: OPD enforcement FAQ ↗

Process

What may happen after filing

OPD investigators gather facts, then an investigator, prosecutor and profession-board member screen the case for closure or prosecution. OASAS investigators report to its Credentialing Complaints Review Committee; outcomes can include closure, training, reprimand, suspension or revocation.

Supporting guidance: OPD enforcement FAQ ↗OASAS credential complaint investigation ↗

Evidence

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

Some agency-linked forms and destinations could not be read. Source-check dates apply to the material listed below; they do not establish that every linked portal was inspected or a complaint submitted.