Rehabilitative psychotherapy

1. First see a doctor
   Contact a health centre, your occupational healthcare or student healthcare services or some other similar health services to get your treatment started.
2. You will get treatment in accordance with your treatment plan
   Your treatment must continue for at least 3 months after the diagnosis of your mental health disorder.
3. If the treatment is not enough, you can get a referral to a psychiatrist
   If your treatment does not lead to the desired outcome, talk to your doctor about whether you could benefit from rehabilitative psychotherapy. Your doctor can write a referral to a psychiatrist.

4. The psychiatrist will write a medical statement B (B-lausunto) or a medical statement BC (BC-lausunto) or a rehabilitation plan (kuntoutussuunnitelma) for rehabilitative psychotherapy
   You need a medical statement B, a medical statement BC or a rehabilitation plan to apply for rehabilitative psychotherapy reimbursed by Kela. The statement or plan must include a psychiatrist's, child psychiatrist's, adolescent psychiatrist’s or forensic psychiatrist's assessment of your diagnosis and your need for rehabilitation.

5. Find a suitable therapist
   The therapist must be approved by Kela. Further, the therapist must have completed education in the particular form of therapy that has been recommended for you. You can use Kela’s service provider search (in Finnish) to look up therapists. The search function is available in Finnish and Swedish. However, please note that it only includes therapists approved by Kela who have agreed to have their contact information listed in the search.
6. Choose the therapist you want to see regularly
   Talk to different therapists and try to get a feel for which therapist you feel the most comfortable talking to. Meet each therapist either face to face or remotely. However, you will need to pay for these initial consultations (tutustumiskäynti) yourself.
7. Agree to start therapy
   Talk to your therapist about starting therapy and about the schedule and terms and conditions, such as billing, cancellations and holidays or days off.
8. Apply for rehabilitative psychotherapy from Kela
   Fill in an application for rehabilitative psychotherapy and attach a medical statement B, a medical statement BC or a rehabilitation plan. Read more about how to apply for rehabilitative psychotherapy reimbursed by Kela.
9. You can start therapy once Kela has given you a positive decision

   Rehabilitative psychotherapy can be granted for a maximum of 3 years. Kela issues decisions on rehabilitative psychotherapy for 1 year at a time. We recommend that you and the therapist sign a written agreement on the therapy.

   If the therapist and your doctor recommend that you continue the therapy, you need a new medical statement B, medical statement BC or rehabilitation plan. Read more about how you can apply for continued rehabilitative psychotherapy.

Rehabilitative psychotherapy reimbursed by Kela can be granted for a maximum of 3 years in total. We grant it for up to 1 year at a time. Reimbursement for rehabilitative psychotherapy is available for up to 80 sessions per year and for up to 200 sessions in total.

Kela can, under specific circumstances, grant a new period of rehabilitative psychotherapy lasting up to 3 years if the previous therapy ended at least 5 years ago. This is possible if, for example, your mental health disorder has worsened or if you have been diagnosed with a new mental health disorder that may have a negative impact on your ability to work or study.

If you are applying for a new period of rehabilitative psychotherapy, submit your application to Kela together with a new medical statement B, medical statement BC or rehabilitation plan that includes a psychiatrist’s, child psychiatrist’s, adolescent psychiatrist’s or forensic psychiatrist's assessment of your diagnosis and your need for rehabilitation.

You will need a medical statement B or a medical statement BC issued by a psychiatrist in the following situations:

• You have only had a few therapy sessions.
• Your therapy sessions have been sporadic.
• Your therapy has been interrupted.
• You have not made progress as planned during the therapy.

Kela will reimburse you for the costs of individual psychotherapy sessions as follows:

• individual psychotherapy EUR 57.60/session
• parental guidance EUR 57.60/session.

Kela will reimburse you for the costs of group therapy sessions as follows:

• group therapy EUR 42.05/session
• parental guidance EUR 42.05/session.

Kela will reimburse you for the costs of family therapy and couples psychotherapy as follows:

• 1 hour session EUR 63.91/session
• 1.5 hour session EUR 95.87/session.

Kela will reimburse you for the costs of art psychotherapy sessions as follows:

• art psychotherapy in the form of individual therapy EUR 57.60/session
  • parental guidance EUR 57.60/session
• art psychotherapy in the form of group therapy EUR 42.05/session
  • parental guidance EUR 42.05/session.

Kela will reimburse you for the costs of music therapy as follows:

• music therapy in the form of individual therapy EUR 57.60/session
  • parental guidance EUR 57.60/session
• music therapy in the form of group therapy EUR 42.05/session
  • parental guidance EUR 42.05/session.

Kela will reimburse you for the costs of a rehabilitative psychotherapy report as follows:

• report issued by a therapist EUR 22.71
• report issued by a psychiatrist EUR 34.84.

The therapist usually deducts the reimbursement directly from the price of the therapy session. If this is not the case, you can apply for reimbursement from Kela afterwards.

Do as follows:

1. Complete the form Kuntoutuslasku KU 204 (PDF, in Finnish).

   • Save the blank form to your device. Do not fill in the form directly in the browser because some of the information may not be saved that way.
   • Open the form with Adobe Reader and fill it in.
2. Send the form using the OmaKela e-service:

   • Log in to the OmaKela e-service (available in Finnish and Swedish) and select Tee hakemus tai ilmoita muutoksista (Submit an application or report changes). If you want to apply for reimbursement on behalf of someone else, go to Asioi toisen henkilön puolesta (Act on behalf of another person). Read more about acting on behalf of another person.
   • First select Sairastaminen ja kuntoutus (Sickness and rehabilitation). Then select Kuntoutus (Rehabilitation). Last select Kuntoutuslasku (Specification of rehabilitation costs)
   • If you send your application to Kela in OmaKela, you do not need to sign it.
3. If you have supporting documents, send them via OmaKela after you have submitted your specification of the rehabilitation costs. If they are paper documents, you can photograph them.

   • Submit documentation that shows how much you have paid for your appointment(s) as a supporting document with your application. The documentation must also show how many appointments you have had and their dates. You can submit, for example, an invoice issued by the service provider or your therapist.
4. Visit OmaKela to see if your application has been decided, how much you will get and when the reimbursement will be paid.

If you cannot use OmaKela, mail your application to Kela. Save the form to your device and fill it in after saving it. Print out the completed form and send it and any supporting documents to Kela, PL 10, 00056 KELA.

When to apply

You must apply for reimbursement within 6 months from the date of paying the costs.