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Kuwait bans Reiki healing, EFT, other non-scientific methods of psychotherapy
The nation's Minister of Health issued a decision in which he established a framework for the practice of psychotherapy and psychological counselling
- PUBLISHED: Fri 21 Aug 2026, 2:57 PM
Kuwait has banned psychotherapists and psychological counselors in the nation from offering or promoting any treatment that is not backed by science.
The nation's Minister of Health Dr Ahmad Al Awadhi issued Ministerial Decision 225 of 2026, in which he established a framework for the practice of psychotherapy and psychological counselling and for the operation of specialised centres and complexes.
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This also sets licensing, training and premises requirements. Offices that are in the proces of getting licensed have six months to comply, while those in the government sector have 18 months.
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There will be an absolute ban imposed on providing or promoting therapeutic services that are not backed by science, this includes the following:
Energy and spiritual therapies: energy healing, Reiki, pranic healing, treatment with stones and crystals, spiritual healing, cosmic healing, "star seeds", astral projection and the activation of chakras and the aura or energy field.
Programming and mental guidance not based on evidence: neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), cognitive programming, mental and psychological engineering, positive affirmations, psychological genetic activation, and psychological or neuro-spiritual preparation.
Suggestive and performative practices: stage or fake hypnosis, law of attraction therapy, handwriting analysis (graphology), body language analysis and time line therapy.
Relaxation and frequency techniques: psychological yoga, breath control for meditation, Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), colour therapy, treatment with frequencies and sound vibrations, tapping and thought field.
The decision also brings life coaching and self-development under regulation, stipulating that neither may be practiced outside an approved professional license.
Among a slew of other regulations, all non-physician practitioners are also prohibited from prescribing or adjusting drugs, medicines and supplements. Aside from that, electroconvulsive therapy and magnetic and nerve stimulation techniques of all kinds are also barred and restricted to specialist doctors.
In case of suicidal thoughts or severe symptoms, non-physician practitioners must urgently refer the patient to the hospital or a psychiatrist.
