Terapiat etulinjaan (Therapies to the Front Line)
A Finnish national service model that brings short-term psychotherapy, guided self-help and the Terapianavigaattori questionnaire into primary-level mental health services.
Terapiat etulinjaan ("therapies to the front line") is a Finnish national service model that aims to improve access to primary-level mental health care. It is coordinated by a programme office together with wellbeing services counties and university hospitals, and it is part of the national mental health strategy. Counties use the model to implement the therapy guarantee (terapiatakuu).
What it means for patients
- Stepped care: mild and moderate symptoms are treated first with the lightest effective option (guided self-help, internet therapy, short-term psychotherapy), moving to heavier care only when needed.
- Terapianavigaattori: an anonymous questionnaire that speeds up the assessment of care needs for adults; children and young people have their own versions.
- Short-term psychotherapy: counties provide it themselves or through service vouchers.
- Trained professionals: primary-care nurses, psychologists and doctors are trained to deliver evidence-based brief treatments, so care is available without a specialist referral.
What it is not
It is not a service you can apply to directly. The route runs through your own wellbeing services county or the City of Helsinki.