If the psychiatrist (or child psychiatrist) is a medical specialist who can prescribe drugs such as antidepressants or antianxiety drugs, for example, the psychologist is a university graduate who is not a doctor (so he is not entitled to prescribe drugs). As for the psychoanalyst and the psychotherapist, if they can also be psychiatrists or psychologists, that is not always the case.
Therefore, consultation rates and reimbursements vary depending on the type of professional encountered.
For psychiatrists, rates and reimbursements are fixed in particular according to the patient's age and whether or not the consultation is part of a care pathway (€39.70 for example, for adult consultation in sector 1 and care pathways).
For consultation with a psychologist, the amounts depend on the type of consultation:
- in liberal (free fares except in the departments of Bouches-du-Rhône, Haute-Garonne, Landes and Morbihan where an ongoing experiment provides for the reimbursement of certain sessions, the amount of which is fixed at €22 30 minutes);
- in a medical-psychological center or in a hospital (possible care as part of a coordinated care pathway).
On the other hand, the amount of consultation with a psychoanalyst or a psychotherapist is free (no coverage by the Health Insurance) since these professionals are neither psychiatrists nor psychologists.
However, like psychologists, the fees of psychoanalysts and psychotherapists can be partially reimbursed by some mutual societies.