What Are the Main Mental Health Services Available in the Philippines?

The Philippines has more mental health infrastructure than most people realise. There's a national law, PhilHealth coverage, government hospitals, employer programs, school counselors, and crisis hotlines. Yet most Filipinos still struggle to find consistent, affordable care when they need it.

This guide maps the full landscape — not to overwhelm you, but to help you understand where you fit in it, and where the real gaps are.

A Law Exists — So Why Is Access Still Hard?

Republic Act 11036, the Mental Health Act of 2018, was a landmark piece of legislation. It mandated the integration of mental health into primary health care, required mental health services in public hospitals, prohibited discrimination against people with mental health conditions, and established a National Mental Health Policy.

On paper, the system is comprehensive. In practice, implementation is uneven. The Philippines has approximately 0.6 psychiatrists per 100,000 people (WHO data) — far below the global average of 1.7. Most are concentrated in Metro Manila. Waiting times at public facilities can stretch from weeks to months. And while the law created a mandate, it did not instantly create the workforce or infrastructure to fulfil it.

Understanding this gap is the starting point for understanding why the system is structured the way it is — and why knowing which layer serves your specific need matters.

The Government Layer — Public Mental Health Services

Public mental health services in the Philippines operate in three tiers. Each serves a different level of need and offers a different experience.

National Center for Mental Health (NCMH)

The NCMH in Mandaluyong City is the national referral center for mental health in the Philippines. It offers inpatient psychiatric care, walk-in consultations, and outpatient follow-up services — all at little to no cost for PhilHealth members.

The NCMH also operates the country's most-used mental health crisis hotline: 1553, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This is the most important number to know in an acute crisis.

The honest reality: wait times are long, staff are stretched, and continuity of care between visits is difficult to guarantee. For severe, acute, or crisis-level presentations, NCMH is often the right first step. For ongoing outpatient therapy, it is not designed to serve that need at scale.

DOH-Accredited Provincial Psychiatric Units

Regional hospitals outside Metro Manila — including the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center, the Davao Regional Medical Center, and similar facilities in major cities — have psychiatry departments accredited by the Department of Health.

These units are the regional equivalent of NCMH services: important for acute and crisis care, limited for consistent outpatient therapy. If you're outside the capital and facing a mental health emergency, these are the facilities to contact.

LGU-Based Barangay Health Centers

Barangay health centers are the frontline of the public health system. Under RA 11036, they are mandated to provide basic mental health services and referral pathways. In practice, most centers have community health workers trained in basic psychological first aid, but few have embedded mental health professionals.

What you can reliably expect from a barangay health center: a referral to NCMH or the nearest regional hospital, and psychosocial first aid in cases of community trauma or emergency. What you should not expect: regular therapy sessions or psychiatric consultations.

PhilHealth Mental Health Coverage — What It Actually Covers

PhilHealth has expanded its mental health coverage since RA 11036, but the specifics matter. Many Filipinos assume more is covered than actually is.

Z-Benefits Package (Inpatient)

The PhilHealth Z-Benefits package covers inpatient psychiatric care, including hospitalisation for acute psychiatric episodes, detoxification, and severe mental health crises. This is where PhilHealth coverage is strongest — for situations that require admission and intensive management.

Covered conditions include schizophrenia, bipolar disorder (in acute episodes), severe depression requiring hospitalisation, and drug dependence treatment. If you or someone you know requires inpatient psychiatric admission, PhilHealth membership is a meaningful financial buffer.

Outpatient Psychosocial Services

PhilHealth also covers some outpatient services through its Primary Care Benefit (PCB) package and through accredited facilities. Outpatient consultations with a PhilHealth-accredited psychiatrist can be partially covered, as can some community-based psychosocial services.

However, this coverage is primarily for consultations and psychiatric management — not for regular weekly or biweekly therapy sessions with a psychologist or counselor, which is what most people with anxiety, depression, or ongoing emotional difficulties actually need.

Honest Limitations

PhilHealth's mental health framework was built around the medical model — hospitalisation, acute management, and follow-up consultations. It was not designed to fund the kind of consistent outpatient talk therapy that evidence shows is most effective for anxiety, depression, burnout, grief, and relationship difficulties. For those needs, Filipinos must look elsewhere.

HMO Coverage — What to Ask Your HR

Health Maintenance Organisations are a significant part of how employed Filipinos access healthcare. Mental health coverage under HMOs has improved significantly post-pandemic, but it remains inconsistent across plans and providers.

What Most HMOs Include

Most mid-range to premium HMO plans in the Philippines now include some form of mental health benefit. Common inclusions:

• • Psychiatry consultations (typically 1–3 per year)
• • Outpatient psychology referrals at accredited providers (plan-dependent)
• • Telehealth mental health consults (increasingly common in post-2022 plans)
• • Inpatient psychiatric admission coverage (usually shared with PhilHealth)

What to Verify Before Assuming Coverage

Before your next session, ask your HR or insurance provider these five questions:

1. Is outpatient mental health covered, and which providers are accredited?
2. How many sessions per year are included in my plan?
3. Is telehealth included, or only in-clinic sessions?
4. What is the co-payment per session?
5. Do I need a referral from a general practitioner first?

Workplace Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs)

The post-pandemic period accelerated EAP adoption in the Philippines significantly. BPOs, corporations, NGOs, and government agencies have invested in EAPs as part of broader workplace wellbeing strategies. If you're employed, there's a growing chance your employer offers one — and many employees don't know they have access to it.

What a Good EAP Should Offer

• • 3–6 free, confidential sessions per year with a licensed mental health professional
• • Access independent of HR knowledge (your sessions remain private)
• • Crisis referral pathways for urgent presentations
• • Coverage for both employee and, in some plans, immediate family members

Why EAPs Alone Are Not Enough

EAPs are designed for one-time or acute support — the life event, the workplace conflict, the anxiety spike after a difficult quarter. They are not designed for ongoing therapeutic relationships. A six-session cap cannot sustain treatment for depression, trauma recovery, or relationship therapy, all of which typically require months of consistent work.

If you've used your EAP sessions and still need care, the next step is a private platform or clinic. Organisations that want to offer employees more than a session cap — including embedded, ongoing mental health support — can explore Saya for Businesses, which is built around exactly that kind of sustained engagement rather than triage.

School and University Mental Health Programs

Educational institutions are a major mental health touchpoint for young Filipinos. The infrastructure here is more developed than many people realise — but the limitations are also real.

K–12 Guidance Programs

DepEd mandates a guidance counselor in every public school. These counselors — registered with the Professional Regulation Commission under RA 9258 — are trained to handle academic difficulties, career guidance, and mild psychosocial concerns.

In practice, counselor-to-student ratios are high, and the role is often stretched across administrative duties as well. School guidance programs are most effective for academic adjustment and early identification of at-risk students. They are not equipped to deliver intensive or clinical-level therapy.

University Psychology Clinics

Several major Philippine universities operate psychology training clinics that offer low-cost sessions to the public. These include clinics at UP Diliman, Ateneo de Manila, De La Salle University, the University of Santo Tomas, and Miriam College, among others.

Sessions at these clinics are supervised by licensed faculty and conducted by advanced psychology students in practicum. Fees typically range from ₱50 to ₱300 per session — making them among the most affordable options available. Waiting lists can be long, and session consistency varies with the academic calendar.

For detailed guidance on low-cost options, the affordable therapy in the Philippines guide covers these clinics in more depth.

When School Support Isn't Enough

School counselors are trained in guidance, not clinical therapy. When a student is showing signs of depression, anxiety disorder, trauma responses, or suicidal ideation, the appropriate next step is a referral to a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist — not continued sessions with a guidance counselor. Child and teen therapy with a licensed professional provides the clinical depth that school programs are not designed to offer.

Crisis Lines and Emergency Mental Health Services

If you or someone you know is in immediate crisis, the following services are available. Save these numbers.

Where Private Platforms Fit In

After mapping the full system, a clear pattern emerges. Each layer serves a specific need:

• • Public hospitals and NCMH — acute, crisis, and severe presentations
• • PhilHealth — inpatient psychiatric care and accredited outpatient consults
• • HMOs — 1–3 consultations per year, primarily psychiatry
• • EAPs — 3–6 free sessions for acute support at work
• • School programs — guidance and early identification, not clinical therapy

None of these layers are designed to serve the most common mental health need: consistent, ongoing, private, and affordable outpatient therapy for anxiety, depression, burnout, grief, relationship difficulties, and life transitions.

This is the gap private online platforms exist to fill. Saya's network of PRC-licensed psychologists and counselors offers weekly or biweekly sessions at flat rates (₱1,750 per psychologist session; ₱1,300 per counselor session), with therapist matching, session continuity, and no commute required. For Filipinos outside Metro Manila — or those who simply cannot afford clinic-rate private therapy — this format removes the most common access barriers.

The same model is available at the organisational level through Saya for Businesses and Saya for Schools — both of which are designed around sustained engagement rather than session caps.

The Bottom Line

The Philippine mental health system is more developed than it was a decade ago. RA 11036 created a real mandate. PhilHealth, HMOs, EAPs, and school programs each address a specific slice of mental health need — and for acute or crisis situations, the public system works.

The persistent gap is in the middle: the hundreds of thousands of Filipinos who aren't in crisis, aren't hospitalised, haven't exhausted their EAP, and don't have an HMO that covers weekly therapy — but who are struggling with real, ongoing mental health challenges that require consistent professional support.

Knowing the full landscape helps you understand exactly where that gap is — and what options exist to bridge it. If you're ready to take the first step, a free mental health assessment can help clarify what kind of support fits your situation best.