Oregon Behavioral health Complaint Route

Authority and scope

Check the license and concern

The Psychology Board covers psychologists, psychologist associates/residents and unlicensed practice. Licensed Professional Counselors and Therapists covers LPCs, LMFTs, their associates and temporary practitioners. Licensed Social Workers is a separate board. MHACBO provides a separate certification process for CADC addiction counselors, QMHA/QMHP and other listed certifications; it is not the complaint form for every state-licensed therapist.

Supporting guidance: Psychology complaint process ↗LPC/MFT complaint process ↗Social-work complaint process ↗MHACBO certifications ↗

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 psychologist associates/residents

Board of Psychology report and process.

Open this official route ↗

LPCs, LMFTs and their associates

Board of Licensed Professional Counselors and Therapists report.

Open this official route ↗

Clinical and other regulated social workers

Board of Licensed Social Workers complaint form.

Open this official route ↗

CADC and other MHACBO certifications

Separate certification ethics process; use the state board too if its individual license is implicated.

Open this official route ↗

Submission

How the official source says to file

Psychology: complete its standard Confidential Report and send copies of supporting material through the complaint destination linked by that Board.
LPC/MFT: use that Board’s separate Confidential Report link, also supplying supporting copies. A psychology submission is not a substitute for selecting the correct Board.
Social work: use the complaint form linked from the BLSW page. For questions about its process, contact blsw.investigator@blsw.oregon.gov or 503-378-5735.
MHACBO: submit a written complaint to ethics@mhacbo.org, identifying the certified person or registered intern, workplace, conduct and relevant ethics concerns. Its published policy also permits a scheduled telephone interview for a consumer who prefers a verbal complaint.
Detailed state-board portal signatures and patient/representative release terms were not established. Ask the specific recipient before providing another person’s therapy records; the word confidential does not itself authorize that disclosure.

Supporting guidance: Psychology complaint process ↗LPC/MFT complaint process ↗Social-work complaint process ↗MHACBO complaint instructions ↗MHACBO ethics procedure ↗

Limits

What this route may not provide

The state boards address competence, ethics, confidentiality, professional boundaries and their licensing laws. MHACBO refers matters outside its certification jurisdiction, including agency-wide or employment concerns, to appropriate bodies. Monetary recovery authority was not established. For a psychiatrist (MD/DO), use the medical guide; for a psychiatric advanced-practice nurse, use the nursing guide. Identify any facility or program complaint separately from the individual credential.

Supporting guidance: Psychology complaint process ↗LPC/MFT complaint process ↗Social-work complaint process ↗MHACBO ethics procedure ↗

Anonymity

Do not guess about confidentiality

Psychology and LPC/MFT discourage anonymous reports but may accept sufficiently specific, supported allegations. They do not confirm the complainant’s identity, which can nevertheless become apparent; investigative material is confidential, while disciplinary notices/orders are public. Social work describes complaint information and identity as confidential and separately publishes disciplinary documents. MHACBO uses its own case-specific confidentiality policy; sanctions are public. Do not transfer state-board privacy assurances to certification proceedings.

Supporting guidance: Psychology complaint process ↗LPC/MFT complaint process ↗Social-work complaint process ↗MHACBO ethics procedure ↗

Complaint timing

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

A filing deadline was not established by this check; ask promptly. Psychology and LPC/MFT describe typical preparation/review of three to five months, with extensions and longer hearings. Social work targets six months but reports about nine months with its backlog. These are processing estimates, not filing limits.

Supporting guidance: Psychology complaint process ↗LPC/MFT complaint process ↗Social-work complaint process ↗

Process

What may happen after filing

Psychology and LPC/MFT obtain a respondent explanation, investigate and present findings to their respective boards; closure or proposed discipline follows. Social work uses committee review and a Board decision with written outcome notice. MHACBO screens, investigates and applies its certification ethics process.

Supporting guidance: Psychology complaint process ↗LPC/MFT complaint process ↗Social-work complaint process ↗MHACBO ethics procedure ↗

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.