Where can relatives of people with psychosis find support?
Free, reimbursed and paid support in the Netherlands.
Published 12 min read
When someone develops psychosis (opens in a new tab), everyone close to them carries part of it. A mother may be the one who phones the crisis team and goes to every appointment, but a brother, a partner, a grown-up daughter or a close friend lives with the worry too. This guide is about support for you, in the Netherlands, whether or not you are the official carer, the mantelzorger.
If the person you care about is in treatment
Mental health institutions (ggz-instellingen) often support the relatives of the people they treat, so the first step is to ask the treatment team what it can offer you. The most common offers:
- A course about psychosis for relatives (psycho-education). Many early-psychosis teams run one.
- Family conversations, and at some institutions a group for several families together (multi-family group).
- A family peer worker (familie-ervaringsdeskundige), someone who has supported a relative through mental illness themselves.
- A family consultation hour (familiespreekuur): one to a few conversations with a family coach. Some institutions also open it to relatives of people they do not treat, so it is worth asking even if the person you care about is not their patient.
These offers usually cost you nothing: the institution provides them free, or bills them to the patient’s insurance as part of their care.1
The person in treatment decides what the team shares with you.2 Without their consent, the team can still give you general information that is not about them.1
A family confidential adviser
A familievertrouwenspersoon is an adviser for relatives who is independent of the institution. The help is free and needs no referral.3,4
- In compulsory care (Wvggz), Stichting Familievertrouwenspersonen helps partners, siblings, children, parents and friends.3
- In voluntary care, Stichting Familievertrouwenspersonen PLUS works at contracted institutions, listed on the foundation’s website (opens in a new tab).4,5
- Both can be reached on 0900-333 2222, at 10 cents a minute.5
Everything below is open to anyone close, whether or not the person you care about is in treatment.
Someone to talk to
Helplines and chats
For a conversation straight away, often anonymously:
| Service | What it offers | How to reach it | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| PsychoseNet (opens in a new tab) | A chat about psychosis with professionals and family peer workers, also in the evenings and at weekends | Chat on the website | Free |
| MIND Naasten Centraal (opens in a new tab) | The Naastenlijn, a phone line for relatives, and support by email (opens in a new tab) | 0900 254 6674 | 10 cents a minute, at most €10; email free |
| De Luisterlijn (opens in a new tab) | Someone to listen, day and night | 088 0767 000, chat or email | Normal call charges; chat and email free |
Conversations with a coach
Stichting Naastentraining (opens in a new tab) offers four free one-hour sessions by video with two coaches, who are retired mental health professionals or family peer workers. Psychosis is among the topics, and no diagnosis is needed. The waiting list (opens in a new tab) runs from a few weeks to a few months.
Courses about psychosis for relatives
These courses explain psychosis and how to respond to it, and leave room for your own experience. The courses below are open to people living in the institution’s region, whether or not the person you care about is a patient there. If your region is not listed, ask the mental health institution or the carer support point near you.
| Institution | Course | Where | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| GGZ Rivierduinen (opens in a new tab) | Omgaan met psychose (bij een naaste): 8 sessions for family and friends of an adult with psychosis | Residents of 16 municipalities around Leiden and Gouda | Free |
| GGNet (opens in a new tab) | Omgaan met psychose: for partners, adult family members and others close | Winterswijk, Doetinchem, Zevenaar, Apeldoorn and Zutphen | Often free |
| Pro Persona (opens in a new tab) | Omgaan met psychose: 8 meetings for partners, parents, siblings and friends; next dates not yet set | Gelderland | Usually free |
| Pro Persona (opens in a new tab) | Psychische problemen in de familie: 6 meetings, schizophrenia among the topics | Nijmegen region from 15 February 2027; Tiel region from 24 May 2027 | Free |
| GGZ Drenthe (opens in a new tab) | Psychische kwetsbaarheid in je naaste omgeving: 6 evenings for adult relatives, friends and colleagues | Assen, from 2 February 2027 | Free |
| GGz Breburg (opens in a new tab) | Psychische kwetsbaarheid in de naaste omgeving: 7 meetings for family, friends, neighbours and colleagues | Breda and Tilburg regions | Free, apart from a small charge for materials |
| Arkin (opens in a new tab) | Psychische kwetsbaarheid in je naaste omgeving: 5 meetings for adult relatives, four times a year | Amsterdam and Diemen | Ask when you sign up |
| GGZ Friesland (opens in a new tab) | 6 evenings for relatives and others close to someone with a mental illness | Friesland | Ask when you sign up |
| Indigo (opens in a new tab) | A training for relatives | Rotterdam Zuid, from 24 March 2027 | Free |
| Vincent van Gogh (opens in a new tab) | Psychiatrie en/of verslaving in de familie | Limburg, 2027 | €30 |
Online courses
Open to anyone in the Netherlands:
- Free: Mondriaan’s online self-help modules for relatives (opens in a new tab); Lentis’s Zorgen voor iemand naast jou (opens in a new tab), which is anonymous; and GGZ Friesland’s nine-part Betrokken omgeving (opens in a new tab).
- Paid: Therapieland’s programme for carers, Mantelzorg (opens in a new tab), costs €49.95; Univé customers pay €19.95, or nothing from the Univé health budget. Its four-session programme Psychose bij je naaste (opens in a new tab) is available only through a care professional.
Groups with others in the same position
- Ypsilon (opens in a new tab) is the association for anyone close to someone with psychosis, whether family or friend. Membership costs €67.50 a year, and €10 for a second member at the same address. Members can ask its advice service for help by phone, WhatsApp or email.6
- MIND Naasten Centraal (opens in a new tab) runs conversation groups for siblings, parents, partners, adult children and people aged 18 to 35, in nine cities and online. The online groups cost €15 for five sessions, and many are full.
- Mental health institutions in some regions run groups for relatives, sometimes together with Ypsilon; ask the institution near you.
- For children of a parent with a mental illness, adult children included, the Trimbos Institute’s KOPP/KOV map (opens in a new tab) lists free groups.
The Commissure’s map of support groups (opens in a new tab) lists more groups in the Netherlands and Belgium.
Your own mental health
The GP and the practice’s mental health nurse
Talks with the GP, or with the practice’s mental health nurse, the POH-GGZ, are covered by basic insurance and do not count towards the eigen risico, the amount you pay yourself each year before insurance pays.7 Tests and medicines the GP orders do count.8 The Dutch care standard for relatives states that relatives can in principle always turn to the GP for supportive conversations.1 Since 2025, the GP can also refer you for an exploratory conversation in mental health care, a verkennend gesprek, without the eigen risico.9
A psychologist
Treatment by a psychologist or psychiatrist needs a referral and a diagnosed mental disorder, and it counts towards the eigen risico, which is €385 in 2026.7,9 Low mood, burn-out and adjustment problems are excluded,7 so the strain of supporting someone does not qualify on its own.
Mindfulness
Basic insurance pays for mindfulness only as MBCT for people whose depression has come back three or more times and is now in remission.10 Other mindfulness courses can be reimbursed from supplementary insurance (aanvullende verzekering), usually €100 to €350 a year, when the trainer is registered with a professional body.11 Conditions differ between insurers: some pay without a referral, others only for burn-out complaints and with a referral from the GP.12
A mindfulness course from a registered trainer usually costs a few hundred euros. ZoMindful, in Amsterdam and Amstelveen, for example, charges €309 for an eight-week course open to anyone; with supplementary cover you pay between €0 and €89 of €339.13 Some carer support points and mental health institutions run free mindfulness workshops for carers; ask the ones near you. VGZ’s Mindfulness Coach (opens in a new tab) app is free for everyone, also if you are not insured with VGZ.
Therapists and coaches you pay yourself
Balanskliniek (opens in a new tab) is a national network of more than 200 therapists, coaches and counsellors. You can search it by topic, such as stress, burn-out, grief or relationships and family, by location, or for online sessions.
Other approaches
Some people find relief in approaches outside regular care. These are the ones most often offered in the Netherlands:
| Approach | What happens | Typical price | Where to find a practitioner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Family constellations (familieopstellingen) | A chance to see your family from the outside and understand hidden patterns: in a group, other participants stand in for your family members while a facilitator guides. Also one-to-one, in person or online | From about €100 | Opstellersnetwerk (opens in a new tab), an overview by province |
| Haptotherapy (haptotherapie) | Conversation, exercises and touch, to notice where stress sits in your body; one-to-one sessions of 45 to 60 minutes | €95–99 a session; some supplementary policies pay part of it if the therapist is registered | Vereniging Haptonomie (opens in a new tab) and the Register Haptotherapie Nederland (opens in a new tab) |
| Breathwork (ademwerk) | About 30 minutes of continuous breathing while lying on a mat, followed by rest and a short conversation; one-to-one, in a group or online | €15–59 in a group; €125–195 one-to-one | International Breathwork Foundation (opens in a new tab), a map of members |
| Focusing | Paying attention to how a situation feels in your body; learned in sessions or a course, then practised free of charge with a partner | €65–105 a session; courses €450–735 | Stichting Focusing Nederland (opens in a new tab) |
| Voice Dialogue | A facilitator talks in turn with your inner “voices”, such as the inner critic; one-to-one sessions of an hour to an hour and a half, in person or online | €100–135 a session | Voice Dialogue Academie (opens in a new tab) |
| SilentHands | A personal hand movement for releasing intense emotions, learned in one session of about an hour and a half with a certified facilitator14 | On request | SilentHands facilitators (opens in a new tab) |
| Yoga and meditation | Classes of 60 to 75 minutes, in a studio or online | €15–18 a class | Yoga studios near you, or online classes from De Nieuwe Yogaschool (opens in a new tab) |
Carer support points also organise creative workshops and massage for carers, free or at a low price, especially around the Day of the Carer (Dag van de Mantelzorg) on 10 November. Ask the one near you.
Practical help with caring
For the practical side of caring, the municipality is the place to go. Under the Social Support Act (Wmo), a mantelzorger is anyone who cares for someone they have a personal relationship with. The law sets no minimum number of hours,15 and mental support counts.16 Some local organisations use a guideline of 8 hours a week, for longer than 3 months.17
- A carer support point (steunpunt mantelzorg) or carer consultant (mantelzorgconsulent) gives advice and runs groups, courses and respite. The support is free.18 MantelzorgNL lists the local organisations (opens in a new tab), and its Mantelzorglijn (opens in a new tab), 030 760 60 55, answers questions from anyone caring for someone close, Monday to Thursday 10:00 to 16:00 and Friday 10:00 to 13:00.
- Independent client support (cliëntondersteuning) helps you find your way through the care and support the municipality offers. It is free for every resident,15 and MEE offers it without a referral.19
- Respite care, a break while someone else takes over, is arranged through your own municipality or through the municipality where the person you care for lives.20
- A care coordinator (mantelzorgmakelaar) takes over arranging care and paperwork for you. Each sets their own rate, and many supplementary policies pay part of it (see the next section). The BMZM register (opens in a new tab) lists them.
In the largest cities:
| City | Where to go | What it offers |
|---|---|---|
| Amsterdam | Markant (opens in a new tab) | Free courses for carers, including De Mat (opens in a new tab), for relatives in mental health care (waiting list) |
| Rotterdam | Mantelfoon (opens in a new tab) | A free line for carers, day and night: 0800 777 33 33 |
| The Hague | Kompassie (opens in a new tab) | A free support centre for mental health, open to family and other relatives |
| The Hague | Servicepunt XL (opens in a new tab) | Free walk-in at 17 locations, for carers giving at least 8 hours of care a week |
| Utrecht | Mantelzorg Utrecht (opens in a new tab) | Carer support point; registration is free |
| Eindhoven | Steunpunt Mantelzorg Verlicht (opens in a new tab) | Carer support point |
| Groningen | Humanitas, Voor wie zorg jij? (opens in a new tab) | Carer support point |
| Tilburg | ContourdeTwern (opens in a new tab) | Carer support point |
What supplementary insurance pays
Most insurers pay their benefits for carers only to someone who gives at least 8 hours of care a week, for longer than three months; a.s.r. sets no minimum, and CZ decides case by case. VGZ and Univé also ask for personal care or help with daily tasks, and pay one carer for each person cared for.12 A sister or a friend who mainly gives emotional support will usually not qualify. Most insurers also refuse respite if the person cared for has an indication for it under the Wmo or the Wlz.
| Insurer | Care coordinator (mantelzorgmakelaar) | Respite (vervangende mantelzorg) | Carer course |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zilveren Kruis (opens in a new tab) | 2, 3 or 4 hours a year | 96, 120 or 144 hours a year | €150 a year, courses at the municipal support point included |
| CZ (opens in a new tab) | 7 hours, once | €1,250, €1,750 or €2,250 a year, care at home | €150, once |
| VGZ12 | €250, €500 or €750 in total for as long as you are insured | 5, 10 or 15 days | none |
| Univé (opens in a new tab) | €250, €500 or €750 in total for as long as you are insured | 5, 10 or 15 days | none |
| Menzis (opens in a new tab) | €350 every two years | up to €2,325 a year | €100 or €150 a year |
| Zorg en Zekerheid (opens in a new tab) | up to €250 a year | up to €3,500, on the policy of the person cared for | €115 to €175 a year |
| a.s.r. (opens in a new tab) | €200 to €400 a year, shared with coaching and courses | €150 to €1,200 a year | within the same budget |
| Salland (opens in a new tab) | 80%, up to €250 or €350 a year | none | 75%, up to €100 or €150 a year |
| DSW (opens in a new tab) | none | AV-Top only: €17.50 an hour, up to 80 hours, on the policy of the person cared for | none |
The amounts are for 2026 and depend on the level of the policy; check the 2027 terms before you renew. Ypsilon says many insurers also reimburse its membership fee in part or in full;6 check your own policy. Several insurers have a free advice line for their customers: Zilveren Kruis Zorgcoach on 071 365 20 40, CZ Zorgteam on 013 594 91 10, VGZ Zorgadvies on 088 131 16 11, Menzis Zorgadvies on 088 222 4042 and Salland on 0570 68 74 84.
