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  • Apply for a license to practice as a psychotherapist with a professional qualification from the EU/EEA/Switzerland

Apply for a license to practice as a psychotherapist with a professional qualification from the EU/EEA/Switzerland

  • Arbeit 



    	    

		    
Would you like to work as a psychotherapist in Germany? Then you need a license to practice. You can also obtain a license to practice with a foreign professional qualification. To do so, you must have your professional qualification recognized.

		    


                					    

						    

							    Competent Department
						    

						    
					    

                        
					    

						    

							    Basic information
						    

						    

							    

								    
The profession of psychotherapist is regulated in Germany. This means that in order to work as a psychotherapist in Germany without any restrictions, you need a license to practice. Approbation is the state license to practice the profession. This means that you are not allowed to work independently as a psychotherapist without a license to practice. You can also obtain a license to practice in Germany with a professional qualification from a country in the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland. 

In order to obtain a license to practice, you must have your foreign professional qualification recognized. In the recognition procedure, the competent authority compares your professional qualification with the German professional qualification and checks the equivalence. The equivalence of the professional qualification is an important prerequisite for obtaining a license to practice. 

In addition to the equivalence of the professional qualification, you must also meet other requirements for the license to be issued. Further requirements are, for example, sufficient German language skills and health suitability. 

If your professional qualification does not originate from the EU, the EEA or Switzerland, other regulations apply. 

In principle, you can also apply for the procedure from abroad.

								    

									    Requirements
  • You have a professional qualification as a psychotherapist from the EU, the EEA or Switzerland.
  • You want to work as a psychotherapist in Germany.
  • You can provide proof of competence in the federal state of Bremen.
  • Personal suitability: You are reliable to work as a psychotherapist and have no criminal record.
  • Health suitability: You are mentally and physically fit to work as a psychotherapist.
  • You have German language skills at the required level. This is usually general language skills at level B2 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and technical language skills at level C2.