French Health Authority Officially Moves Away from Psychoanalysis in Autism Care with New Evidence-Based Guidelines

On February 12, 2026, the Haute Autorité de Santé (HAS), France's national health authority, unveiled updated recommendations for the treatment of autism spectrum disorder (TSA), marking a decisive shift away from psychoanalytic approaches in favor of proven evidence-based interventions. The comprehensive guidelines emphasize developmental and behavioral therapies targeting communication, autonomy, social skills, motor functions, and sensory processing, areas central to supporting autistic individuals.

This landmark update follows an extensive two-year review involving 250 participants, including scientific experts and families, led by child psychiatrist Amaria Baghdadli and Sophie Biette, herself a mother to an autistic young woman. The recommendations advocate for annual evaluations of children and adolescents with autism by healthcare professionals and highlight the crucial role of parental involvement and training in ongoing care.

Notably, methods such as psychoanalysis, neurofeedback, and packing have been explicitly excluded due to insufficient evidence of their effectiveness. HAS had faced long-standing criticism for the widespread reliance on psychoanalysis within autism treatment in France. The new directive thus represents a major paradigm shift aligning French policy with international scientific consensus.

The updated guidance also acknowledges the evolved understanding of autism as a spectrum disorder, affecting between 1% and 2% of the population, characterized by diverse clinical manifestations. It underscores a national strategy to phase out “non-adapted” practices and improve care quality based on rigorous scientific evidence, as stressed by Étienne Pot, the interministerial delegate for neurodevelopmental disorders.

In summary, HAS's February 2026 recommendations decisively reject outdated approaches and firmly establish developmental and behavioral interventions, reinforced by professional assessments and strong parental engagement, as the future standard of autism care in France.