ENPsychotherapy in Germany is provided by medical specialists and licensed psychologists, in practices and clinics. Anyone looking for a therapist in Germany, for themselves or a relative, soon meets a wall of German words — Psychotherapeut, Psychiater, Psychologe, Heilpraktiker, Coach — that do not mean what their English look-alikes suggest. Below: who may treat, who only advises, what is recognised and what is not.
The awkward truth first: outpatient psychotherapy here takes months or years, residents wait for it too, and it does not fit a patient flying in for a few weeks. So this page covers both routes: outpatient therapy for residents, and inpatient and day-clinic programmes realistic for a visitor. For the wider picture, see psychiatry in Germany.
Who is who: the titles that matter
Finding a therapist in Germany begins with the title: only two protected routes give the right to that title. One is a physician with specialist training in psychiatry and psychotherapy or in psychosomatic medicine and psychotherapy; the other a psychologist with the state licence (Approbation) as a psychotherapist, with a separate licence for treating children and adolescents. Only they may call themselves psychotherapists and provide psychotherapy paid for by statutory insurers.
Others have far fewer rights. A Psychologe without the licence may assess and counsel, but not treat. A Heilpraktiker for psychotherapy may also treat, but only privately, and needs only a health-office check ruling out danger to patients, a far lower bar than the degree and examination behind an Approbation. Coaches and counsellors are unregulated. To check, ask for the specialist title or Approbation and look up the doctor in the regional medical chamber (Landesärztekammer) register.
In practice, psychiatrist and psychotherapist are often different people working together. A psychiatrist is a physician who diagnoses, prescribes and may provide psychotherapy, but in outpatient practice mostly manages medication; long talking treatment usually falls to a psychotherapist, often a psychologist, who cannot prescribe. Specialist titles are awarded by the medical chamber; partner hospitals’ specialists are listed under doctors in Germany. Admission to an inpatient programme is decided by a physician.
The methods Germany recognises
Four approaches are recognised for reimbursement. Behavioural therapy, including cognitive behavioural therapy, examines thoughts and habits that sustain a problem and practises new behaviour. Psychodynamic therapy explores unconscious conflicts behind current difficulties, focusing on one central theme. Analytical psychotherapy goes deeper and lasts longer, exploring long-standing conflicts and personality patterns through the relationship with the therapist. Systemic therapy, the most recent addition, sees the person within their family and may involve relatives.
A course starts with an initial consultation, then a few trial sessions to test the method and the working relationship. Only then is an application made to the insurer for a defined number of sessions, short-term or long-term. Sessions are usually weekly, and the method is chosen with the patient rather than imposed.
Around therapy, German clinics offer group sessions, art therapy, movement therapy, occupational therapy and programmes for sleep and pain. Anything sold as a proprietary method promising a cure does not belong on this list. For an overview of mental health, see the World Health Organization fact sheet.
Access, waiting times and language
Residents book through the 116117 service and wait; visitors pay privately for a clinic programme; language is best settled before the trip. Residents start with a mandatory initial psychotherapeutic consultation, after which acute treatment (Akutbehandlung) can ease a crisis without replacing a course. A regular therapy place usually takes weeks to months.
Statutory insurance does not cover a visitor: treatment is paid privately — see cost of psychotherapy in Germany. A weekly outpatient course is not practical from abroad. What is practical is a concentrated inpatient or day-clinic programme of several weeks, or a diagnostic assessment with a written treatment plan to carry out at home.
Therapy through an interpreter is possible but changes the work. English-speaking therapists are common in university towns (see English-speaking doctors in Germany), Russian- and Arabic-speaking ones far rarer. Settle this before travelling, not on arrival; a good clinic will tell you honestly if it cannot treat in your language.
Many therapists in Germany offer video sessions, English included; for residents this is routine. For a visitor, online therapy does not replace an inpatient or day-clinic programme but can continue the work afterwards, if the therapist may treat a patient living abroad — the rules depend on where the patient is — and a crisis plan is agreed in advance, since help must then come from someone on the spot.
Where this happens in Germany
Psychotherapy takes place in university psychiatric and psychosomatic departments, specialised private hospitals, day clinics and rehabilitation clinics that combine it with neurological or cardiac rehabilitation. An acute psychiatric ward takes people in crisis or with severe illness, including emergencies; a psychosomatic clinic usually admits by appointment and builds treatment around intensive psychotherapy, which needs some stability. Patients from abroad often expect one and are offered the other. For an overview, see psychiatry in Germany.
People see a therapist for depression, anxiety and panic attacks, obsessive-compulsive disorder, after-effects of trauma, eating disorders, sleep problems, stress and exhaustion (often called burnout), and relationship or family difficulties; adults also seek assessment for suspected ADHD. Psychosomatic clinics take depression, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, chronic pain and physical complaints without a physical cause; acute psychiatric wards handle crises and severe illness such as psychosis. Addiction has its own programmes. Couple and family problems are usually treated in weekly outpatient sessions, which rarely suit visitors.
Partner departments are examples, not a ranking. In the Schön Klinik group, Schön Klinik Roseneck in Prien am Chiemsee has Professor Ulrich Voderholzer, a psychiatrist and psychotherapist, as medical director and chief physician, Professor Andreas Hillert as chief physician for psychosomatic medicine and psychotherapy, and the child and adolescent psychiatrists Dr Silke Naab and Dr Simone Pfeuffer as chief physicians for psychosomatics and psychotherapy of young patients; Dr Robert Doerr heads the psychosomatic medicine centre at Schön Klinik Berchtesgadener Land. Professor Bernd Löwe directs the clinic for psychosomatic medicine and psychotherapy at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Professor Thomas Hillemacher the university clinic for psychiatry and psychotherapy at Klinikum Nürnberg, and Professor Sabine Herpertz the clinic for general psychiatry in Heidelberg. Dr Gunnar Birke leads the psychotherapeutic neurology unit of Kliniken Schmieder in Gailingen, for psychological problems that follow a neurological illness.
Before booking, ask who will conduct the sessions and with what qualification, how many sessions a week the programme includes, what happens in a crisis, and whether medication will be started and who will prescribe it afterwards.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a psychologist, a psychotherapist and a psychiatrist in Germany?
Training and the right to treat. A psychiatrist is a physician who diagnoses, prescribes and may provide psychotherapy. A psychotherapist is a specialist physician or a psychologist with the Approbation, working mainly through talking treatment. A psychologist without it may assess and counsel but not treat. For costs, see cost of psychotherapy in Germany.
Can therapy be done online?
Yes, for residents: video sessions are routine, and many therapists offer them in English. For a visitor, online therapy cannot replace a clinic programme, but it can continue the work at home if the therapist may treat a patient in your country and help in a crisis is arranged locally in advance.
What should I do if I need help urgently?
If a life is in danger, yours or someone else’s, call 112. Many psychiatric hospitals have an outpatient service or emergency department for people in crisis, and outside practice hours the on-call medical service answers on 116117. If you are abroad, call your local emergency services: travelling to Germany is no substitute.
How AlenMed organises treatment
AlenMed starts with the documents: previous reports, medication lists and any diagnosis made at home are translated and sent to psychiatric and psychosomatic departments, whose answer says whether outpatient or inpatient treatment fits, in which language, for how long, and what a doctor at home will receive.
AlenMed works with 86 partner hospitals in 38 cities and 345 doctors; the company office is in Munich. A coordinator arranges visa, appointment and interpreter.
This material is for information only and is not an offer; the treatment plan is set by the doctor who assesses the patient in person.
In immediate danger, call 112 in Germany: this page is not a substitute for emergency help.