Child Psychologist in Cyprus: GeSY, Private Sessions and When to Go

Parents usually start looking for a child psychologist (in Greek, paidopsychologos) when something has changed: a child who will not go to school, worries that take over the evenings, angry outbursts, a low mood that does not lift, or a hard time after a loss or a frightening event.

This guide covers when to look for help, who the different professionals are, GeSY and public services, consent, school refusal and private sessions.

Our editors researched it from official sources, checked on 5 November 2026. It is not written by a clinician and it does not diagnose. If you think your child is in danger right now, call 112 or go to the nearest Accident and Emergency (A&E) department.

If you already want to compare practices, start with the child psychology providers and play therapy pages in our SEN directory.

Every child has worried, angry or sad spells, and most pass with time and support at home. It is worth talking to someone when a difficulty lasts for weeks, keeps getting worse, or affects school, friendships, sleep, eating or family life.

• Anxiety: worries or fears that get in the way of everyday life, or stomach aches before school
• School refusal: strong distress about going to school, or days missed
• Behaviour: frequent outbursts, aggression or defiance at home and at school
• Low mood: sadness, irritability or withdrawal that does not lift
• After a crisis: a loss, a separation or a frightening event your child cannot move past
• Sleep and eating: changes that worry you

Start by talking calmly with your child, and with the school, which may see a different side. Then book the personal paediatrician, who can check for physical causes and refer your child on.

When it is urgent

Call 112 or go to the nearest A&E if your child is in immediate danger, has seriously hurt themselves, may have taken an overdose, or talks about a plan to end their life. This is general guidance: we found no official Cyprus criteria for mental health emergencies. An A&E visit costs a €10 co-payment under GeSY (HIO co-payment rules).

A&E doctors cannot refer a child to a GeSY clinical psychologist (HIO referral table, April 2026), so book the personal paediatrician afterwards for follow-up.

Public schools can refer a pupil at serious risk, such as self-harm, suicidal thoughts or a suspected eating disorder, straight to OKYpY's child and adolescent mental health services. The Ministry's primary-school form of March 2025 tells parents to contact the service themselves at once for the referral to go ahead (Ministry referral form, March 2025).

Help lines

These numbers are on the Ministry of Education's Ministry of Education help lines poster. In 2014 the Ministry gave set hours for 116 111, not around the clock (Ministry circular of 23 January 2014). We could not confirm current hours for 116 111 or 1410, or find a state crisis line for children open 24 hours a day, so in an emergency always call 112.

In Cyprus, psychologist is a protected title. Under the Psychologists Registration Law, only people on the official register may practise as psychologists or present themselves as one, and doing so without registration is a criminal offence (Law 68(I)/1995).

The law recognises five specialties: clinical, counselling, school or educational (one specialty), forensic, and organisational or work psychology. Child psychologist is not one of them; it is a common description, so check the person's registered specialty.

Only doctors prescribe medication. A child psychiatrist (paidopsychiatros) is a medical doctor registered with the Cyprus Medical Council (government guide to registering as a doctor), while the Psychologists Registration Law gives psychologists no power to prescribe.

Someone who is not a registered psychologist may not use any title that suggests they are one, so ask any psychotherapist or other therapist about their training and registration.

How to check a psychologist's registration

The Psychologists Registration Council, under the Ministry of Health, publishes the register of registered psychologists online, with each person's register number, name, qualifications and specialty. It has no search box, so use your browser's find function. On 5 November 2026 it listed 1,193 psychologists, including 594 clinical, 310 school or educational and 240 counselling psychologists.

A graduate psychologist (ptychiouchos psychologos) has a degree and is on a separate register of graduate psychologists, but may not practise independently. In June 2026 the Council urged the public to check registration before any service (Council announcement of 8 June 2026); the register link in that announcement no longer works, so use the one above.

The Cyprus Psychologists' Association's find-a-psychologist page is a voluntary members' list, not the register.

Through GeSY, a child can see a clinical psychologist contracted with the Health Insurance Organisation (HIO). Every course starts with a doctor's referral, and the referral must carry a diagnosis the HIO covers.

Children can be registered with a personal paediatrician until their 18th birthday; from 15, families can choose a personal doctor for adults instead (HIO rules on personal doctors). Under the HIO's referral table of April 2026, the personal doctor can refer to a clinical psychologist, and so can specialists in paediatrics, child and adolescent psychiatry, psychiatry, neurology and paediatric neurology (HIO referral table, April 2026).

You can choose any HIO-contracted clinical psychologist and change later, but the yearly sessions stay the same (HIO access rules).

Since 1 September 2026: up to three assessment visits first

A first referral now covers up to 3 assessment visits (code F99), which count towards the yearly total. The psychologist then records a diagnosis and the doctor issues a longer referral with it; if there is no covered diagnosis, further sessions are outside GeSY. This step does not apply when a psychiatrist (including a child psychiatrist) or a clinical psychologist has already documented a diagnosis of a specific mental disorder (HIO announcement of 14 August 2026).

Sessions a year by diagnosis

Each diagnosis carries a yearly allocation. In the HIO's clinical psychology catalogue for children and adolescents, last revised in February 2021 (HIO clinical psychology catalogue):

School refusal is not a diagnosis in the catalogue, so GeSY covers sessions only when the referral records a listed diagnosis, such as separation anxiety, social phobia or generalised anxiety. Since 1 November 2026 the HIO pays only up to the allocation of the main diagnosis on the referral (HIO announcement of 2 October 2026). Our guide to children's therapies through GeSY explains how extra sessions can be requested.

Sessions with parents

Since 25 May 2026, the psychologist can also hold 60-minute sessions with a parent or guardian: at most 2 a year for each child in total, not per psychologist (HIO announcement of 25 May 2026).

What it costs

In 2026, each psychology session costs a €10 co-payment, and GeSY co-payments for children under 21 are capped at €75 a year. A child psychiatrist visit costs €6 with a referral from the personal doctor, or €25 if you go directly (HIO co-payment rules).

Counselling psychologists were added to GeSY by Law 61(I)/2026 in April 2026, but on 5 November 2026 the HIO's public list had none under contract (official GeSY provider search), so counselling sessions are private.

The HIO's official GeSY provider search lists every contracted professional. Choose health professionals, then other health professional, set the specialty to clinical psychologist and filter by district. For a child psychiatrist, search doctors with the specialty child psychiatry.

The list does not say whether a psychologist works with children, so call and ask whether they see children of your child's age and how long the wait is.

On 5 November 2026 the list had 371 clinical psychologists. Some are listed in more than one district, so the middle column adds up to more than 371:

62 of the 371 were listed in more than one district, and 52 were linked to OKYpY, the state health services. The list also had 26 child and adolescent psychiatrists. The register listed 594 clinical psychologists that day, so not all of them work through GeSY.

Child psychology providers in our directory

On our child psychology pages, providers we have matched to the HIO's list in the past 12 months are marked GeSY contracted, and a filter can show only those. Not every contracted provider is marked, so ask each one before the first session.

OKYpY child and adolescent mental health services

The State Health Services Organisation (OKYpY) runs community child and adolescent mental health services in every district, with one service for Larnaca and Famagusta. Their teams of child psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, occupational therapists and mental health nurses work with the family and the school (OKYpY child and adolescent services).

They see children and teenagers up to 17, and each service's page has an online appointment request form. The pages do not say who can refer or whether a GeSY referral is needed, so ask the service or your paediatrician.

The Ministry's Educational Psychology Service

The Ministry of Education's Educational Psychology Service (in Greek, Ypiresia Ekpaideftikis Psychologias) helps with learning, emotional and behavioural difficulties through assessment, advice, planning and crisis support in schools; its published role does not include long-term therapy. It serves children aged 3 to 18, and some up to 21 who are still at secondary school (Educational Psychology Service privacy policy).

Parents can apply directly to their district office on its referral form, and every referral needs the parents' consent (role of the Educational Psychology Service). In public schools, the usual route is the school's identification and support procedure (in Greek, Michanismos Entopismou kai Stirixis): two meetings with the parents, goals and monitoring, then a referral to the service if that is not enough (the school procedure).

We found no official statement on whether the service sees pupils of private schools, or on its cost, so ask your district office (district offices).

Psychologists at private schools

A private school's Ministry-approved internal regulations must tell parents about the other services it offers, and the law names educational psychology services among them (Private Schools Law, article 14). Ask your school whether it has its own psychologist and how they work with families. Our SEN assessment guide explains school assessments in more detail.

Under the Parents and Children Relations Law, parents exercise parental care (goniki merimna) jointly; either parent may act alone only for routine care or urgent matters. If parents disagree on an important decision, either can ask the Family Court to decide, and after a divorce or separation the court can give parental care to one parent or to both (Law 216/1990).

No law we found sets an age at which a child can consent to psychological care alone; adulthood starts at 18. Parents consent for a minor, but the child's opinion weighs more with age and maturity. If a parent refuses care the professional thinks the child needs, the matter can go to court; in an emergency, the professional acts in the child's best interest (Patients' Rights Law, article 13).

In November 2025 the Commissioner for Children's Rights said some children cannot get mental health help because both parents' consent is not given, and called for the law to change (Commissioner's statement, November 2025). In practice, expect a psychologist to ask both parents to consent to non-urgent care, so talk to your child's other parent early.

School refusal (in Greek, scholiki arnisi) describes a child for whom going to school has become very hard: morning tears or panic, stomach aches, pleas to stay home, or missed days. It is a description, not a diagnosis.

What the attendance rules say

Schooling is compulsory until a child finishes gymnasium or turns 15, whichever comes first, and the law covers private schools registered with the Ministry as well as public ones. A parent who does not see that their child attends can face up to 3 months in prison or a €1,000 fine (Law 24(I)/1993).

In public primary schools and kindergartens, a health absence of more than 5 days needs a doctor's certificate unless the head is satisfied otherwise. If a pupil misses more than 5 days in a row, or keeps missing shorter periods, without a reason the head accepts as serious, the head tells the District Education Office, which informs the Police or the Social Welfare Services to protect the child's right to education. Regularly leaving early or arriving late for therapy needs the head's approval in advance (primary school regulations, KDP 168/2024).

Private schools set their own rules on absences in their Ministry-approved internal regulations (Private Schools Law, article 14), and public secondary schools follow their own regulations, so ask your child's school for its rules.

Working with the school

We found no official Cyprus guidance on school refusal, so these steps are general:

• Tell the school early, before absences build up, and agree one contact person
• Ask the paediatrician to check physical complaints such as stomach aches or headaches
• Keep the morning routine, and keep days at home calm and ordinary
• Agree small steps back with the school, such as part of a day or a favourite lesson first
• Ask what the school can adjust, such as a quiet place to settle or a check-in at the start of the day

If anxiety seems to be behind it, ask the paediatrician about a referral to a clinical psychologist. If you think a learning difficulty, ADHD or autism may be part of the picture, our ADHD guide and autism guide explain how assessment works.

Families go private for many reasons: to see a counselling psychologist, who is not yet in GeSY, for play therapy, or when the GeSY sessions for the year are used up.

There is no official fee guidance for private sessions in Cyprus: each practice sets its own fees. Ask for fees in writing, and ask whether a session is billed to GeSY or charged privately.

Questions to ask before the first session:

• Are you on the register of psychologists, and in which specialty?
• How much of your work is with children of my child's age?
• Which approach do you use, and how will we know if it is helping?
• How long is a session, how often will you see my child, and what does it cost?
• How will you involve us as parents?
• What stays between you and my child, and what will you share with us or the school?

Play therapy

Play therapy (in Greek, paigniotherapeia) uses play to help younger children express what they feel. We found no law or register for play therapists in Cyprus, and it is not a GeSY specialty. By law, a registered psychologist who offers it should show their approved specialty alongside it (Law 68(I)/1995), so ask who will see your child and how they are registered.

1. Write down what you notice, with examples and dates.
2. Talk with your child and with the school, and agree one contact person there.
3. Book the personal paediatrician and ask about a referral.
4. If it is urgent, do not wait: call 112 or go to A&E.
5. Choose a route (GeSY, OKYpY, the Ministry's service or a private practice) and ask about waiting times.
6. Check the professional's specialty on the register before the first session.
7. Agree consent with your child's other parent, and keep every report together.

Support at home and at school can start while you wait for an appointment.

Services and rules change, so confirm details with the service concerned. This guide is general information, not medical advice.