GeSY Child Therapy in Cyprus: Speech, OT & Psychology

Parents in Cyprus hear different stories about therapy under GeSY. One family pays €10 a session for speech therapy, another pays a private therapist every week for occupational therapy, and a third is told it needs a new referral. All three can be right, because each therapy works differently under the General Healthcare System.

This guide explains, for children, what GeSY covers for speech therapy, occupational therapy (OT) and psychology, who can refer your child, how many sessions are covered and what you pay. It is based on the published rules and provider list of the Health Insurance Organisation (HIO), which runs GeSY, checked on 17 and 18 October 2026. Rules change, so confirm your child's case with your doctor or the HIO.

It is not medical advice. Whether your child needs therapy, and which kind, is a question for a doctor or a registered therapist.

At a glance

Every co-payment counts towards a yearly cap: €75 a year for children under 21, compared with €150 for most adults (HIO co-payment rules).

GeSY does not cover going straight to a therapist. Every course of therapy starts with a referral from a doctor in GeSY, and the referral must carry a diagnosis that the HIO covers for that therapy.

Children under 15 are registered with a personal paediatrician; from 15 to 18, families can choose a paediatrician or a personal doctor for adults. Under the HIO's referral rules (HIO referral table, April 2026):

• Speech therapy: the referral must come from a specialist, such as a paediatrician working as a specialist, a child psychiatrist, a paediatric neurologist or an ENT doctor. The personal paediatrician cannot refer directly
• Occupational therapy: also needs a specialist's referral
• Clinical psychology: the personal paediatrician can refer, and so can specialists such as a child psychiatrist or a paediatric neurologist

To see a specialist through GeSY, ask the personal doctor for a referral first. Going straight to a specialist without one costs €25 per visit instead of the €6 co-payment (HIO co-payment rules).

Step by step

1. Write down what worries you, with examples, and ask your child's teacher what they see.
2. Book the personal paediatrician. Ask whether therapy or a specialist assessment is needed, and for a referral to the right specialist.
3. The specialist sees your child and, if therapy is appropriate, issues a referral with the diagnosis. For psychology, the personal paediatrician can issue the referral directly.
4. Choose any therapist contracted with the HIO and book the first session. You pay the €10 co-payment at each visit.
5. When the sessions on a referral are used up, the therapist asks the doctor for the next referral.

You can choose any HIO-contracted therapist and change therapist later, but the number of sessions a year stays the same.

GeSY pays for speech therapy only for the diagnoses in the HIO's speech therapy catalogue (HIO speech therapy catalogue, October 2026). The child's age and the main diagnosis on the referral set a standard yearly allocation: the number of sessions GeSY pays for in a calendar year without a separate approval. The catalogue revised in October 2026 sets:

The listed difficulties for children include problems understanding or expressing language, stuttering, voice problems, feeding and swallowing difficulties, and some motor speech difficulties. A speech-sound (articulation) difficulty on its own, reading difficulties such as dyslexia, and ADHD are not in the October 2026 catalogue, so ask the doctor which diagnosis will go on the referral and whether it is covered.

The allocation is a maximum, not a promise

The allocation is the most GeSY pays for in a year without an approval, not a number of sessions your child is owed. Each referral covers a block of 1, 3 or 6 sessions, or up to 12 on a longer referral the therapist requests, and each new block needs a new referral. The count starts again every January.

From 1 November 2026: only the main diagnosis counts

The doctor records one main diagnosis on each referral, and only that diagnosis sets the yearly allocation; other diagnoses on the referral do not add sessions. This has always been the rule, but from 1 November 2026 the HIO enforces it: sessions above the allocation of the main diagnosis are not paid, unless extra sessions were approved or the child is on an HIO register that sets a different number. Sessions used earlier in the year count towards the total, but the HIO will not take back payments for sessions held before 1 November. Therapists must check how many sessions remain before each one, so ask the doctor which diagnosis is recorded as the main one (HIO announcement of 2 October 2026).

Extra sessions above the allocation

If your child needs more sessions than the allocation, the speech therapist and the specialist can send a joint request for extra sessions on the HIO's form, describing the current therapy goal and the progress made (HIO request form for extra sessions). The HIO assesses each request, so extra sessions are possible but not guaranteed. If you think the allocation will not be enough, raise it with the therapist before it runs out.

A contracted speech therapist may offer sessions outside GeSY, at private rates, when there is no valid referral for a covered diagnosis or the yearly sessions are used up, but must tell you first. Our speech therapy guide explains how to choose a therapist and what a good assessment looks like.

To see a child psychologist through GeSY, your child needs a referral to a clinical psychologist contracted with the HIO, for a diagnosis in the HIO's clinical psychology catalogue. Each diagnosis carries a standard yearly allocation: in the catalogue for children and adolescents (last revised in February 2021), for example, autism, ADHD and anxiety carry 12 sessions a year, and depression 24 (HIO clinical psychology catalogue).

Since 1 September 2026, a child who has not seen a clinical psychologist in the past 12 months starts with a referral for up to three assessment sessions. After them, the psychologist asks the doctor for a longer referral with the diagnosis, and the three sessions count towards the yearly total. If the assessment finds no covered diagnosis, further sessions are private.

As with speech therapy, the allocation is a maximum, not a promise. If a child needs more sessions, the psychologist and the referring doctor can send a joint request, which the HIO assesses case by case. The request can go in before the allocation is used up, and approved extra sessions end with the calendar year (HIO psychology questions and answers, July 2025). The main-diagnosis rule from 1 November 2026 applies to psychology too.

Since May 2026, the psychologist can also hold up to two sessions a year with a parent, to discuss progress and how to support the child at home.

Counselling psychologists were added to GeSY by a law published on 9 April 2026, but in June 2026 the HIO was still negotiating how they will join, so their sessions are not yet covered.

Assessments for school, such as for dyslexia or exam arrangements, usually go through the school, the Ministry of Education's educational psychology service or a private educational psychologist: see our SEN assessment guide.

Occupational therapy is in the GeSY law and the HIO's catalogue, and only a specialist can refer. In practice it is offered almost only through public services. In the HIO's public list of contracted professionals on 18 October 2026, 34 of the 35 occupational therapists worked in units of the State Health Services Organisation (OKYpY) and one at a non-profit association; none was in private practice. 14 of them were listed at OKYpY's community centres for children and adolescents, part of its mental health services, and the other OKYpY therapists at adult mental health services.

In June 2026 the HIO said it was holding intensive consultations on fully including occupational therapy, and a parliamentary question in August 2026 noted that including private occupational therapists was still pending. Until that changes, most families choose between a public service, where availability varies by district, and private sessions. Check the official GeSY provider search for occupational therapists in your district, and ask the specialist whether a public service near you takes GeSY referrals for children and how long the wait is.

At a public school, the District Committee for Special Education can also decide on therapy at school as part of a child's special education support. Our occupational therapy guide explains what OT covers and how to choose a therapist.

Plan for private costs in these cases:

• Therapy without a referral, or for a diagnosis that is not in the HIO catalogue
• Sessions beyond the yearly limit, unless the HIO approves an extension
• Private occupational therapy, while private therapists remain outside GeSY
• Counselling psychologists, until the HIO starts contracting them
• Programmes that are not GeSY services, such as many private behavioural or social-skills programmes

Ask every provider, before the first session, whether the session will be billed to GeSY or charged privately, and get private fees in writing. Families of children with a significant disability may also qualify for state disability benefits, which are separate from GeSY: see the benefits section of our autism guide.

The official GeSY provider search

The HIO's official GeSY provider search lists every contracted provider. Choose health professionals, set the service category to other health professional and the specialty to speech pathologist, clinical psychologist or occupational therapist, then filter by district or municipality. For occupational therapy, expect mostly public OKYpY services.

Providers in our directory

On PrivateSchools.cy you can compare approved provider profiles by city, language and age range. Providers we have found on the HIO provider search in the last 12 months are marked GeSY contracted, and the speech therapy and child psychology pages can show only those. Not every contracted provider is marked yet, so ask each one before the first session: are you contracted with GeSY for children, and when could you start?

• Are you contracted with GeSY, and do you see children of this age?
• Which diagnosis is on our referral, and how many sessions a year does it cover?
• How many sessions does this referral cover, and who asks for the next one?
• What happens when the yearly sessions run out?
• Will anything be charged outside GeSY, and will you tell us beforehand?
• How long is the wait for a first appointment?
• Can you share progress with our child's school?

The HIO updates its catalogues and announcements regularly, so confirm details before you rely on them. This guide is general information, not medical advice.

• Health Insurance Organisation: access to other health professionals (referrals, choice of provider) (last checked October 17, 2026)
• Health Insurance Organisation: which doctors can refer to which professions (April 2026) (last checked October 17, 2026)
• Health Insurance Organisation: speech therapy diagnoses and sessions (revised October 2026) (last checked October 17, 2026)
• Health Insurance Organisation: speech therapy questions and answers (February 2025) (last checked October 17, 2026)
• Health Insurance Organisation: sessions follow the main diagnosis from 1 November 2026 (2 October 2026) (last checked October 17, 2026)
• Health Insurance Organisation: request form for extra speech therapy sessions (5 May 2026) (last checked October 17, 2026)
• Health Insurance Organisation: clinical psychology diagnoses and sessions (last checked October 17, 2026)
• Health Insurance Organisation: first referrals to a clinical psychologist (14 August 2026) (last checked October 17, 2026)
• Health Insurance Organisation: psychology sessions with parents (25 May 2026) (last checked October 17, 2026)
• Health Insurance Organisation: clinical psychology questions and answers, including extra sessions (July 2025) (last checked October 18, 2026)
• Health Insurance Organisation: GeSY co-payments, the fee without a referral and yearly caps (last checked October 18, 2026)
• Health Insurance Organisation: personal doctors for children and adults (last checked October 17, 2026)
• Health Insurance Organisation: seven years of GeSY, press release (3 June 2026) (last checked October 17, 2026)
• Law 61(I)/2026 adding counselling psychologists to GeSY (Official Gazette, 9 April 2026) (last checked October 17, 2026)
• House of Representatives: question on occupational therapy in GeSY (5 August 2026) (last checked October 17, 2026)
• Health Insurance Organisation: GeSY provider search and its public list of contracted professionals (occupational therapists counted on 18 October 2026) (last checked October 18, 2026)