How do you find a suitable psychotherapy practice?
The initial consultation/psychotherapeutic consultation?
You are free to choose your therapist. For example, you can use our online search service www.psych-info.de or our service telephone for your search.
Please do not hesitate to leave your telephone number on an answering machine with a request for an appointment and please understand that we will only call you back if there is time for a quiet telephone conversation. Long waiting times for a therapy appointment are unfortunately a reality. Often you can only be offered an appointment after a few days or even weeks of waiting.
The psychotherapeutic consultation provides low-threshold access to outpatient psychotherapeutic care. The aim is to determine at an early stage whether a mental illness is suspected and whether further specialist help is required. The psychotherapeutic consultation can be billed up to 6 times (25 minutes or 3 times 50 minutes) in the event of illness. For insured persons up to the age of 21, consultations with child and adolescent psychotherapists can be billed up to 10 times (25 minutes or 5 times 50 minutes) per case of illness.
At least two trial sessions take place before short-term or long-term therapy - up to four are possible for adults and up to six for children and adolescents. This must be preceded by a consultation. A consultation is also required before the start of acute treatment.
If you have statutory health insurance in Germany, please bring your insurance card with you to the initial consultation.
What types of psychotherapy are there?
The statutory health insurance funds currently
- psychoanalysis,
- depth-psychology-based psychotherapy,
- behavioral therapy and
- systemic psychotherapy is paid for.
There are also other helpful methods, such as talking psychotherapy. Psychotherapists have learned one or more methods and often use them in combination. If you have any questions about the individual methods, talk to your therapist.
How do I apply to the health insurance company for cost coverage?
A doctor will explain the non-organic cause of your symptoms in a so-called consultation report, which you will need to submit your application. If you do not object, your psychotherapist will report to this consultant at the beginning, at the end and once a year during the therapy.
Your therapist will have the form for the application for cost coverage ready for you.
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Statutory health insurance companies generally require an anonymized report from the psychotherapist to an external review body. Here it is checked whether the health insurance company is obliged to provide benefits and whether the proposed treatment appears promising. The protection of patient data and the duty of confidentiality are guaranteed.
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If you are eligible for state aid or have private insurance, the assumption of costs depends on the respective state aid regulations or your health insurance contract.
The application is made in approval steps with a fixed number of therapy hours. These are defined by the psychotherapy guidelines. All health insurance companies will only cover the costs of outpatient psychotherapy from the date of written approval and to the extent approved. You will receive notification of this. Treatment can therefore only begin once the costs have been approved.
In the treatment of children and adolescents, and occasionally also in the treatment of adults, it may be necessary for caregivers to be involved in the therapy. When treating children and adolescents, such sessions for caregivers can also be requested.
Interruptions in therapy of more than half a year must be justified to the health insurance fund. If the justification is not accepted, the entitlement to the remaining approved psychotherapy hours expires. The psychotherapist must notify the statutory health insurance fund of the end and discontinuation of therapy - without providing any further details.
How are therapy costs billed?
Psychotherapy approved by the statutory health insurance fund is free of charge. Simply bring your health insurance card to the practice every quarter for scanning. If you change your health insurance company, please also inform your psychotherapy practice.
Those with private health insurance and those eligible for benefits will receive the invoice personally and may be reimbursed. Billing is based on the scale of fees for psychotherapists (GOP).
Private payers will be billed according to GOP.
What should I bear in mind if I have to cancel an agreed therapy appointment?
Psychotherapeutic sessions usually take place at fixed appointments. A session usually lasts 50 minutes. Make sure you arrive on time for your appointment. If you arrive late, the session cannot usually be extended, as the next person often arrives for treatment afterwards.
If you are unable to keep an appointment, please cancel in good time. The deadline by which you should cancel is agreed individually with your psychotherapist, e.g. during the trial sessions. A period of at least 48 hours is usual. A short written or telephone message, also on the answering machine, is sufficient to cancel. Only then can the time reserved for you be reallocated.
If you miss an appointment or cancel too late, your therapist is entitled to a cancellation fee - regardless of the reason for the cancellation. You must pay the cancellation fee personally; it is not reimbursed by health insurance companies. You also agree the amount of the cancellation fee before the start of treatment.
Can psychotherapy be ended early?
You have the right to end psychotherapy at any time. If you want to stop therapy, it is important to announce this in advance so that you can discuss the end of therapy thoroughly with your therapist.
Psychotherapists will end therapy on their own initiative if it turns out that their treatment is not the right remedy. However, your therapist will discuss such a step with you in detail and point out other treatment options.
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