Are you a therapist thinking of working in Germany?
The longer I have been in private practice in Berlin, the more enquiries I receive on working as a therapist in Germany and/or how to set up your private practice here. And after all the struggles I have gone through myself moving from one country to the next and trying to continue to work as a psychologist, I would like to do something useful with all that knowledge that I (not always willingly!) acquired.
Before you read on, a refugee counsellor in the UK once told me “Don’t internalise what the authorities tell you!” And that is what I want to give you.
In any country there are rules on qualifications for being a therapist, to protect both clients and therapists. And that is very important. But I also know the other side: moving from country to country made me feel like I was never “good enough” as a therapist, there would almost always be something still missing to prevent me from getting that particular license, registration, accreditation, etc. You know your own level of education and experience, and you know what you can and cannot do, at least according to one country’s professional body’s requirements. This is just about whether your expertise, skills and experience are officially acknowledged in Germany and whether it is legally as well as practically possible for you to make a living as a therapist here.
Most common questions:
– Will my qualifications allow me to work as a therapist in Germany?
– Is setting up a private practice viable if I do not speak German?
– Are there any internships available?
– Could it be possible for my sessions to be covered by German health insurance?
– And is there any other way to continue working on what I believe in if some of the answers to the questions above are negative?
And, once you are already in the process of working as a therapist here:
– How can I increase my client load?
– How can I market myself without feeling like a salesperson?
– How can I improve my ranking in search directories?
– How does it work with the German tax system?
– Any tips for improving my network?
If some of the above questions are relevant for you, I offer coaching for setting up a therapy practice in Germany and supervision for the actual therapeutic work you will be doing once you actually get started.
If you are looking for more official information from e.g. the Bundesverband der Deutschen Psychologen, check online here: http://www.bdp-verband.org/psychologie/faq_recognition.html#03
or check for your qualifications and their equivalency in Germany on Anabin:
http://anabin.kmk.org/no_cache/filter/hochschulabschluesse.html
To schedule a coaching or supervision appointment with me: