Published August 2026
France has more ways to get therapy paid for than most people expect, and more small print than most people want. If you are an expat, the first surprise is that the word psy covers three different professions. The second is that the free route is real, but short and narrow. This post sets out the routes as they stand in 2026, with the numbers.
I will cover the four main paths. Mon soutien psy, the state scheme for psychologists. The psychiatre, who is a doctor. The CMP, the public mental health center. And private practice, which is where most English-speaking therapy in France happens. Then where I fit, and where I do not.
Mental health is the Grande Cause Nationale for 2026, so the rules have been moving in your favor. They are still rules, though, and they decide what you pay.
Three kinds of psy, and why it matters
A psychiatre is a medical doctor. Consultations are reimbursed by the Assurance Maladie like any specialist visit, and only a psychiatre can prescribe medication. A psychologue holds a protected university title but is not a doctor. Outside the state scheme, a psychologue sets their own fee and the Sécurité sociale pays nothing. A psychothérapeute is a regulated title too, but it is not tied to any reimbursement at all. Which door you walk through decides the bill, so it is worth knowing which one you are standing at.
Mon soutien psy: twelve sessions at no cost
Mon soutien psy is the scheme that changed the picture. Since 2024 you no longer need a prescription. You book directly with a partner psychologue from the official directory. Each session costs a fixed 50 euros. The Assurance Maladie pays 60 percent and a responsible mutuelle pays the rest, so most people pay nothing. You get twelve sessions per calendar year: one assessment and up to eleven follow-ups. It is open from age three. From October 2026 the state's share is paid direct to the psychologue, so you stop advancing that part.
The limits are the point. Sessions are short, around thirty minutes. The scheme is for mild to moderate distress, not for severe or urgent problems. Twelve sessions is twelve. And only about 6,700 psychologues have joined, roughly one in fourteen, so a partner who works in English near you may not exist. Paris has more of them. Outside the big cities there are few.
The psychiatre and the CMP
You can see a psychiatre directly. Unless you are under 26, though, the Assurance Maladie reimburses more of the set tariff if your médecin traitant refers you first. In secteur 1 there are no extra fees. In secteur 2 the doctor can charge more, and your mutuelle decides how much of that comes back. Psychiatres are the route for medication and for a formal diagnosis. They are less often the route for weekly talk therapy, and English-speaking ones are scarce.
The CMP, the centre médico-psychologique, is the public option. It is free. It also carries the longest waits in the system, often months for adults, and the treatment is set by the center rather than by you. For a serious condition with no money to spare, it is the right door. For a language match or a quick start, it rarely is.
Not sure whether the scheme, the CMP or private therapy fits?
A 15-minute call costs nothing. I will tell you plainly which route makes sense, including when the free one is the better answer.
A brief conversation to see if this feels like the right fit for you. Not therapy.
Private practice: what a psychologue charges
Around nine in ten psychologues work privately, outside the scheme, and set their own fees. A 2025 survey put the average at about 61 euros a session, but the range is wide. Paris, Lyon, Bordeaux and Marseille often run double the rural rate, so 70 to 120 euros in the capital is normal. Specialist methods add ten to thirty percent. The Sécurité sociale reimburses none of it. Some mutuelles pay a small yearly forfait toward psychologue sessions, usually worth a few sessions, so check your contract before you assume.
What you buy with that fee is choice. Your therapist, your language, your pace, no session cap, and nothing in your Assurance Maladie record.
When you should use the public routes
Use them when money is the constraint and your problem fits the scheme. Twelve free sessions with a partner psychologue is a real offer for a defined problem. Use a psychiatre if you may need medication, or a diagnosis for work, insurance or a court. Use the CMP or the emergency services if you are in crisis. None of that is second best. It is the system doing what it is built for.
How I fit, and where I do not
I am a US-trained therapist working online in English with people across France and beyond. I am a private option. I am not a psychiatre, I do not prescribe, and I am not a Mon soutien psy partner, so nothing I do is reimbursed. What I offer is a start within days, sessions in English, and open-ended depth work with no twelve-session limit. Fees are on the fees page. If the reimbursement matters to you, a partner psychologue who works in English is the better answer, and I will say so on the call.
There is more on the France page and the Paris page, and on how online therapy compares to meeting in person.
Common questions about therapy in France
I work online, in English, with clients across France and beyond. I offer individual therapy and couples therapy via secure video call, with no referral and no waiting list. I built the practice as an expat therapist, for people in exactly this position. Before your first session, we have a free 15-minute call to see if this feels like the right fit. If you are weighing this in more than one country, I keep a country-by-country reference on how expat mental healthcare works.
What Clients Say
“I came in thinking I knew what my issues were. I’d been over them a hundred times. But those were just the things I could already see. Aaron helped me notice what I couldn’t, and that’s where everything actually started to change.”
- M.J.
“I’d been in and out of therapy for years. Different therapists, different approaches, none of it really stuck. Aaron helped me understand more in a few months than all of them combined. And he talked to me like a normal person, not like all this weird therapy-speak.”
- S.A.
“A few years ago I suddenly developed prolonged panic attacks but couldn’t begin to understand what had caused them. Having been in therapy in the past, and being a counseling intern student, I felt I had exhausted my resources trying to figure out “What is wrong with me?” I can honestly say Aaron provides a form of counseling that is difficult to find anywhere else regarding efficacy. Not only has his approach been effective, but he also has provided me a safe space to explore aspects about myself I may not otherwise have felt able to. I cannot recommend him enough as he has helped me feel more myself than ever before.”
- K.R.