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Mental Health Therapy Services

17 September 2025

Types of mental health therapy

Mental health treatment may be obtained in the community through HMO clinics or as part of their service providers such as hospitals, organizations and NPOs. The services are free of charge or provided for a low quarterly fee. There is a wide range of treatments:

  • Hotlines for mental health support: HMOs operate hotlines both during normal times and during emergencies.
  • Crisis intervention: HMOs offer a series of 3 telephone support calls with professionals who will help you cope with various crises depending on need, type of service required, and clinical severity.
  • Mental health care practitioners such as a psychiatrist or psychotherapist operate with the staff of family physicians and pediatricians, nurses, and other HMO clinics and HMO center staff.
  • Multidisciplinary mental health care clinics, employing several professionals: psychiatrist, psychotherapist, social worker, nurse, occupational therapist, art therapist, and more.
  • Independent therapists working in private clinics provide psychotherapy, which is a part of the HMO network with partial subsidization.
  • Crisis teams are multidisciplinary, quick, intensive, and short-term therapeutic interventions that are given in the patient's home to stabilize a severe mental health condition and avoid psychiatric hospitalization.
  • Assertive Community Treatment (ACT): intense multidisciplinary treatment provided in the patient’s home for a defined period of time to stabilize their mental health and prevent psychiatric hospitalization. The treatment consists of a set of services that are offered less intensively than psychiatric hospitalization but more intensively than crisis teams. Crisis teams: a multidisciplinary, rapid, short-term and intense therapeutic response that is provided in the patient’s home to stabilize a severe state of mental health and prevent psychiatric hospitalization.
  • Intensive outpatient psychiatric treatment, six hours per session, multiple times a week, to stabilize and control mental health and avoid psychiatric hospitalization.
  • Balancing homes: for anyone experiencing an acute mental health crisis, to prevent hospitalization in a psychiatric hospital.
  • Psychiatric home hospitalization: intense multidisciplinary treatment that is provided in the patient’s home or within rehabilitative housing, with the assistance of a primary caregiver, in lieu of psychiatric hospitalization.

Resilience centers that offer emotional therapy

Resilience centers offer a free therapeutic response to anyone who is experiencing dysfunction and anxiety as a result of the security situation. Professionals with licenses who specialize in trauma therapy are providing the therapy.

The resilience center provides family, group, or individual therapy via Zoom, phone, or in-person. There are centers spread out across the country. You will be directed to a center in your neighborhood after receiving initial service over the phone at *5486.

Psychiatric hospitalization

People who are in a severe mental state that keeps them from being at home can receive therapy to improve their mental health while they are in a psychiatric hospital. In these cases, the person is unable to make sound decisions, has severe symptoms that necessitate close monitoring, or poses a risk to himself or others.

Psychiatric hospitalization can occur in a general hospital's psychiatric ward or in a psychiatric hospital.

When someone is experiencing distress, a mental health crisis, or a mental health disability like depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, trauma disorders, eating disorders, etc., they may seek mental health care. The public mental health care system offers a number of ways to get professional help, including:

  • Depending on necessity, different therapies are provided by the HMOs at different frequencies.
  • Resilience centers offer a range of emotional therapies to anyone who is feeling dysfunction and anxiety as a result of the security situation.
  • Psychiatric ward hospitalization in regular or psychiatric hospitals

For Your Information

For Your Information

The National Insurance Institute's Division for Victims of Hostilities (Hebrew) and the Ministry of Defense's Rehabilitation Department (Hebrew) both treat disabled IDF soldiers and victims of hostilities.

Therapy via HMOs

The HMOs offer treatments for a variety of emotional disorders, distresses, and dysfunction levels. Typically, the HMO provides and finances all mental health services. Treatment that is given in HMO clinics or in clinics and programs run by HMO service providers, including hospitals, organizations, and non-profit organizations. Make sure you have prior authorization from the HMO (Form 17) if the treatment is not offered in an HMO clinic.

Cost: the service is provided free of charge or for a low quarterly fee.

Types of therapy

  • Mental health support hotline: HMOs operate a hotline both during normal times and during emergencies.
  • Crisis intervention: HMOs offer a series of 3 telephone support calls with professionals who will help cope with various crises, for more info.
  • Treatment in HMO clinics: mental health care practitioners such as a psychiatrist or psychotherapist operate alongside and in conjunction with the staff of family physicians and pediatricians, nurses, and other clinic staff. More on mental health care in clinics
  • Treatment at mental health clinics: treatment in a multidisciplinary clinic of the HMO or provider, such as outpatient clinics of hospitals, organizations or NPOs. Several experts in a variety of fields, including psychiatry, psychotherapy, social work, nurses (long-term care), occupational therapy, art therapy, and more, provide treatment in this clinic.
  • Psychotherapy with an independent therapist is care given by independent therapists who operate in their private clinics that have a contract with the HMO. The service is partially subsidized and there is a deductible for every session. For itemization of costs on the Kol Habriut website (Hebrew),.
  • Crisis Team: a multidisciplinary, rapid, short-term and intense therapeutic response that is provided in the patient’s home to stabilize a severe state of mental health and prevent psychiatric hospitalization.
  • Assertive Community Treatment (ACT): intense multidisciplinary treatment that is provided in the patient’s home for a defined period of time to stabilize their mental health and prevent psychiatric hospitalization. The treatment includes a package of services that are provided more intensely than crisis teams but less than psychiatric hospitalization. Crisis team: a multidisciplinary, rapid, short-term and intense therapeutic response that is provided in the patient’s home to stabilize a severe state of mental health and prevent psychiatric hospitalization. More info.
  • Psychiatric day treatment: intense therapy designed for patients in an acute state that is designed to prevent psychiatric hospitalization. In outpatient treatment, the patient arrives at a program that serves as a therapeutic environment, 3-5 times a week, with each treatment day lasting 6 hours. Outpatient treatment includes multidisciplinary individual and group therapy as well as various activities. Alongside outpatient therapy that treats all mental health conditions, there are special outpatient therapies to treat eating disorders, complex PTSD and postpartum depression. More on-day treatment (Hebrew)
  • Balancing homes: for anyone experiencing an acute mental health crisis, to prevent hospitalization in a psychiatric hospital and to heal in a homey, warm and supportive environment in the community. A multidisciplinary team and counselors who accompany the patient throughout the day will provide the treatment, which includes various medical, psychological, and social approaches. The treatment is contingent upon a referral and approval of the insuring HMO and in-network of the balancing house as an HMO provider. More info.
  • Psychiatric home hospitalization: an alternate to psychiatric hospitalization in a hospital. Psychiatric home hospitalization allows people who are experiencing an acute mental health crisis to receive intense multidisciplinary treatment at home with the assistance of the primary care provider. The primary care provider is largely a family member, partner or close friend who lives with the patient. In addition to preserving the patient's self-identity and their functional, psychological, social, and occupational continuity, receiving treatment at home in a comfortable and familiar setting can help foster positive emotions like calmness, choice, and control. These factors will all aid in the patient's recovery and speedy return to full function. The insuring HMO's referral and approval are required before the treatment can begin. More info.

Important

Important

39% of people who were hospitalized will be re-hospitalized within six months. Intense therapy provided during hospitalization helps stabilize and control mental health conditions, but it is important to continue to adhere to therapy in the community as well.

Mental Health Hotlines of the HMOs

Emotional therapy at resilience centers

Resilience centers provide a therapeutic response to any person experiencing anxiety and dysfunction due to the security situation. Professionals with licenses who specialize in trauma therapy are providing the therapy.

The centers provide individual, group and family therapy by telephone, Zoom or in person at the therapeutic centers across the country. You can contact a hotline in your neighborhood after receiving initial service by calling *5486. You can also directly call these numbers to obtain information in the following languages:

Cost: the service is provided free of charge.

Psychiatric hospitalization

Mental health hospitalization is designed for any person coping with acute disorders or mental health disabilities that prevents them from screaming at home due to one of the following reasons:

  1. The individual is a danger to himself, to someone else or to the environment.
  2. Disorganized behavior or lack of judgment that causes the person to neglect themselves and results in severe dysfunction.
  3. Severe symptoms at a level that requires intense treatment and observation.

Hospitalization may involve a psychiatric hospital or the psychiatric ward in a general hospital. More on psychiatric hospitalization (Hebrew)