Therapists who accept Tricare

Using Tricare for therapy

TRICARE provides health coverage to active-duty service members, retirees, their family members, and certain other beneficiaries. It's administered through different regional contractors depending on where you live — Humana Military for the East Region, Health Net for the West Region — and through different plan structures depending on your status: TRICARE Prime (HMO-style), TRICARE Select (PPO-style), TRICARE for Life (with Medicare), and others.

TRICARE covers outpatient mental-health therapy across all its plans. Coverage is good — generally comparable to or better than typical commercial coverage. Most beneficiaries pay low copays or no copays for in-network therapy, and there are no session limits for medically necessary outpatient psychotherapy.

The licensed-provider types covered have expanded over time. TRICARE covers licensed clinical social workers, licensed psychologists, psychiatrists, certified marriage and family therapists, and certified mental-health counselors. The TRICARE certification requirements are slightly different from state licensure alone — therapists need to be TRICARE-certified, not just state-licensed — so the in-network pool is a subset of the state-licensed pool.

A few specific situations worth knowing about:

For active-duty service members, mental-health services through military treatment facilities (MTFs) are the primary access point. If MTF access is limited or you need a service the MTF doesn't provide, TRICARE refers out to network providers. Active-duty members generally need to coordinate through their MTF for outside referrals.

For dependents and retirees on TRICARE Prime, you need a primary-care manager referral for most outpatient mental-health, but mental-health is one of the areas where TRICARE has streamlined access — eight outpatient sessions per fiscal year without a referral.

For TRICARE Select beneficiaries, you can see any TRICARE-certified provider without a referral.

For combat-related mental-health concerns, several therapists in this directory have specific experience working with veterans and active-duty service members. Combat-related PTSD has its own clinical contours and benefits from a therapist who understands them.

For families and dependents experiencing the stress of deployment, frequent moves, and the particular load of military life, several therapists here specialize in military families.

To find a TRICARE-accepting therapist, submit the matching form or browse the profiles below.