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Treatment in Multi-Professional Mental Health Clinics

Revital Ordan, Psychiatric Nurse, Director of the Ambulatory System, Mental Health Administration, Ministry of Health
19 February 2026

A multi-professional mental health clinic is a treatment framework in which a team from different fields operates: Psychiatry, psychology, social work, occupational therapy, nursing, art therapy and nutrition. All of them work in coordination to provide holistic and personalized treatment.

At the center of the approach is the biopsychosocial concept, which combines medical and pharmacological treatment with emotional, behavioral and social treatments. Each patient is assigned a personal treatment coordinator who is responsible for coordinating between the various professionals and leading the treatment plan. The clinic offers a stratification of responses that varies according to the clinical situation – from individual treatment through group and family treatments to specialized units.

There are different types of multi-professional clinics: Clinics for adults or children and adolescents and specialized clinics for treating different conditions, including trauma and post-traumatic, sexual trauma, eating disorders or OCD. Each clinic uses dedicated treatment protocols and approaches.

The treatment is particularly suitable for people with serious mental disorders, for complex cases that require treatment that combines several professionals, or situations that require unique expertise. The treatment is included in the health basket and referrals are made through the HMOs.

A multi-professional mental health clinic is a dedicated treatment framework in which professionals from various fields of mental health work together, such as psychiatry, psychology, social work, clinical criminology, nursing, art therapy, occupational therapy, nutrition, and more. Each one provides care in their area of ​​expertise, and as needed, several professionals are combined who work in coordination with each other to provide comprehensive and holistic treatment as much as possible according to the needs of the patient.

Unique characteristics of multi-professional mental health clinics

  • Biopsychosocial approach
  • Use of different therapeutic models
  • Adjusting the intensity of treatment
  • Treatment continuity and working in extensive interfaces
  • Treatment coordination
  • Treatment coordination: Since treatment in the clinic is provided by a multi-professional team, the main therapist is defined as the coordinator or manager of the treatment, and their role is to synchronize the treatment between the various team members, maintain the overall picture, lead the treatment plan, and implement various steps.
  • Biopsychosocial approach: According to this approach, medical treatment and drug monitoring should be combined with emotional treatments (conversational or through other channels, such as art therapy, animals, etc.), treatment with a behavioral and functional emphasis, and a systemic view of the person within their environmental, social, and community context. Each of the therapeutic professions uses the biopsychosocial approach. For example, the psychiatrist does not only deal with drug treatment, but combines emotional and conversational treatments and addresses rehabilitation and social aspects.
  • Use of different therapeutic models: The use of therapeutic models varies depending on the type of clinic and its scope of activity. The treatment can be provided in the form of individual or group sessions, couple or family therapy, or dyadic (parent-child). In addition, it can be provided face-to-face or using technologies such as video calls with a therapist, or through technology through which the treatment is conducted (e.g. a therapeutic app or VR), with the treatment usually accompanied and supervised by a human therapist.
  • Stratification of responses: Coping with mental crises and psychiatric disorders is dynamic and changes according to the periods and changes that the person goes through, and therefore the response over time should be flexible and adapted. The multi-professional clinic provides a variety of treatments at varying levels of intensity, using different therapeutic models and different professionals, with a frequency and duration of treatment determined according to clinical needs.
  • Treatment continuity and working in extensive interfaces: Treatment in a multi-professional clinic often accompanies patients over a long period of time, especially when it comes to serious mental illnesses, and therefore it also contains elements of coordination and treatment inside and outside the clinic. Whether it concerns complementary and parallel services and treatments, such as contact with the primary physician or with the treatment coordinator in a rehabilitation basket, or whether it concerns referral and readmission from more intensive settings and services. For example, referral to hospitalization or a balancing home, contact with the intensive framework as needed, and receiving the patient back to the clinic upon discharge.

  • Who is suitable for treatment in multi-professional clinics?

    • Those who experience a severe psychiatric disorder, which causes functional disability or significant mental distress and impairs quality of life.
    • More complex cases in which a broad and holistic perspective is required by several professionals from different schools of thought in order to create an adapted and integrated treatment plan. For example, a person who needs psychiatric treatment and monitoring, psychotherapy, assistance in exercising rights and improving daily functioning.
    • Cases in which expertise is required that only exists in the multi-professional clinic, for example, eating disorders.
    • People who need treatment in a dedicated framework or group treatment provided within a specific multi-professional clinic, for example crisis treatment units, post-hospitalization continuum of care units, group treatment for those experiencing a crisis in the third age.

  • Who is not suitable for treatment in multi-professional clinics?

    In cases of low-medium intensity, or if there is a preference for individual and permanent treatment with a single therapist. For example, a person who needs psychotherapy only or psychiatric monitoring only.

Important

Important

Not all complex cases require treatment in a multi-professional clinic. There are many cases in which a single therapist can be the right choice.

Multi-professional mental health clinic services

  • Initial assessment (intake): Examination and assessment of the patient's mental state. Depending on the nature of the problem, intensity and frequency of treatment, a sorting process is conducted and referral to the appropriate type of treatment is made.
  • Diagnosis, treatment and psychiatric and drug monitoring: Management of the condition, including reducing symptoms, early identification and providing coping methods, strategies and support factors; psycho-educational intervention to promote adherence to treatment and the ability to self-care. In addition: Adjusting drug treatment, examining its effectiveness, monitoring side effects and conducting follow-up tests.
  • Psychotherapeutic treatment: Psychotherapy is based on emotional-conversational therapy, which can be given in a variety of therapeutic approaches and in combination with different strategies, such as behavioral therapy, dyadic-play therapy, art therapy and more. It can be said that psychotherapy is actually a therapeutic tool that is used by almost all mental health professions, according to clinical needs and through various professionals and according to their training.
  • Social work and exercise of rights: Social workers help in emotionally coping with distress and mental crises, support the family, and assist in exercising rights and maintaining a therapeutic and rehabilitation continuum.
  • Art therapy: There are 6 sub-types of art therapy: Drama, psychodrama, movement and dance, visual art, bibliotherapy, and music.
  • Occupational therapy: Building a therapeutic intervention program that aims to help cope with the functional implications that stem from the mental disorder. The program addresses all areas of functioning, while addressing enabling and limiting factors in occupations and the environment.
  • Nursing: Comprehensive support and management of the treatment and recovery process – from improving functioning and health, through guidance and assistance in decision-making and medication monitoring, to appropriate referrals and exercising rights.
  • Nutrition: Personal nutritional therapy helps in coping with the symptoms of mental disorders and the side effects of medications, improves quality of life and functioning, and contributes to strengthening the physical and mental condition. Nutritional therapy plays a central and significant role in the treatment of eating disorders.

Types of multi-professional clinics

Treats all mental disorders, with an emphasis on treating severe and prolonged mental disorders (SMI) that require long-term support and treatment, multi-professional intervention that is adapted, coordinated and changes over the continuum of responses, according to clinical needs. Within the framework of the treatment, various therapeutic approaches and models are used – in addition to individual treatment, there are also group and family treatments.

These clinics treat children and adolescents aged 6-18 (up to age 21 for children in special education). Within the framework of the clinic, evaluation, diagnosis and treatment of emotional and mental disorders are carried out by a multi-professional team, with treatment being coordinated, adapted and changed over the continuum of responses.

The comprehensive approach allows for a broad consideration of family and social aspects. In addition to individual treatment, the clinic provides group and family therapy, and there is a strong emphasis on parent guidance, with the understanding that treatment of children often also combines treatment of the family unit.

This clinic emphasizes diagnosis and assessment, along with distinguishing between behavioral-emotional difficulties and the existence of a distinct psychiatric disorder. In addition, there is an emphasis on treatments in broader channels and strategies, such as art therapy, dyadic therapies, animal therapy, and more. The nature of the clinic and its equipment are adapted to the treatment of children and adolescents.

These clinics specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of mental conditions that develop after a traumatic experience. The multi-professional team includes mental health professionals who have undergone additional training in trauma treatment. Among the main treatment methods: Trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), prolonged exposure therapy (PE), cognitive processing (CPT) and EMDR therapy. The treatments are provided individually, in groups or with families, using various strategies such as art therapy, animal therapy and new technologies such as augmented reality (VR).

These clinics provide treatment for women and men who have experienced trauma following sexual exploitation and assault. The treatment is provided by mental health professionals who have undergone specific training and are experts and have expertise in treating post-traumatic stress disorder and complex post-traumatic stress disorder. Treatment methods include: Psychiatric treatment and monitoring, dynamic psychotherapy, dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) which helps with emotional regulation, the ability to contain and accept oneself, along with the teaching of adaptive coping skills, and promoting the ability to maintain trust-based relationships.

Treatment in these clinics includes multi-professional treatment by professionals who are experts in this field and have training and experience in it. Treatment in this framework includes: Nutritional therapy for eating rehabilitation alongside medical-psychiatric treatment and monitoring, psychotherapy using various approaches, such as dynamic psychotherapy based on self-psychology, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical-behavioral therapy (DBT), and family-based therapy (FBT), which focuses on eating rehabilitation and providing tools for communication and trust-building relationships within the family, as well as the ability of patients and families to cope with conflicts and the eating disorder. Treatments in the clinic are provided individually and in families, with parental guidance.

In this framework, psychiatric-pharmacological and psychotherapeutic treatment is provided alongside additional mental health treatments, such as occupational therapy, art therapy, etc. Typically, treatment is based on a dedicated cognitive-behavioral (CBT) protocol that addresses the recurring intrusive thoughts and at the same time the behavioral, ritualistic and compulsive aspects, for example: A method called ERP – Exposure and Response Prevention, which is based on the exposure and response prevention technique. Treatment at the clinic combines behavioral exercises, assessment and measurement of the effectiveness of the treatment, with the aim of reducing and eliminating symptoms in the patients' daily lives.

The process of referring for treatment

The process includes several steps:

  • 1
    Receiving a referral

    You can contact the mental health services at the HMO directly to receive a referral for a professional assessment, whether through the clinic secretariat, the HMO hotline, a doctor or a primary physician, or directly to the mental health array.

  • 2
    Initial assessment

    In order to assess the mental state and the appropriate treatment framework, an initial assessment session will be held. After that, a referral for the appropriate treatment will be received, whether it is individual treatment, treatment in a multi-professional clinic, day treatment, a balancing house, etc. An additional and more comprehensive assessment (intake) will be done upon admission of the patient to the treatment framework, usually by the treating party themselves.

  • 3
    Determining a treatment plan

    The clinic's team will determine for the patient, in collaboration with them, a comprehensive and personalized treatment plan and the appropriate therapeutic interventions. Each patient will be assigned a staff member to manage the treatment process.

    The duration and frequency of treatment will be determined in advance and presented to the patient, as an organized plan in accordance with the goals of the treatment.

Costs and financing of treatment

Treatment at a multi-professional clinic is included in the health basket and is provided free of charge, with the exception of a quarterly deductible or associated fees as usual.

The service at multi-professional mental health clinics is provided through HMO (Clalit, Meuhedet, Maccabi, Leumit) clinics, or through providers who work through an arrangement with the HMOs, such as outpatient clinics in hospitals, clinics of public organizations, associations and private providers.

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