Fees & billing

The information below is primarily aimed at privately insured patients and clients who attend the practice as self-payers. For patients with German statutory health insurance (GKV) there are no extra costs — the statutory insurance covers treatment in full.

Below is an excerpt from my fee schedule according to the German psychotherapists' (GOP) and physicians' (GOÄ) fee ordinances. Fees can be paid either in cash at the practice or against invoice.

Psychotherapy

Counselling and coaching

* excluding VAT, as I currently operate as a small business ("Kleinunternehmer") in the counselling/coaching area.

Information on billing

Psychological counselling and coaching

Psychological counselling and coaching are services that are normally not covered by statutory or private health insurance, as they do not involve treatment of a recognised medical condition. The costs must therefore be borne privately.

Psychotherapy

As a psychological psychotherapist accredited for German statutory health insurance (GKV), I can bill insurers directly. The following outlines the options available to self-payers and privately insured patients.

In my practice there are therefore two ways of handling treatment costs:

1. Self-payer

   You come as a self-payer and pay the costs of psychotherapy yourself.
   This gives you several advantages:

   • You have no waiting times and can start therapy immediately, as you are not waiting for insurer approval.
   • You are not recorded by an insurer as "mentally ill" or "with a pre-existing mental condition". If you later want to switch to a private health insurance plan or take out occupational disability insurance, such a record can become a serious problem in Germany. People with a prior mental-health diagnosis are often rejected by insurers or charged substantial surcharges, even after successful treatment. See Ärzteblatt or Stiftung Warentest. When asked by an insurer about pre-existing conditions you should, of course, answer truthfully.
   • Free choice of methods: if you pay privately, we are not bound by the restrictions of a health insurer. I can draw on the full range of psychotherapy methods, for example combining psychodynamic and behavioural elements, or drawing on systemic and humanistic techniques that are not part of the therapy methods currently reimbursed by German insurers (see this overview).
   • Tax deductibility: privately paid psychotherapy can be claimed as "außergewöhnliche Belastung" (extraordinary expenses) in your German tax return.
   • No insurer bureaucracy for either side.
   • Anonymous therapy: you can pay in cash, so that no one — not even family members (e.g. via bank statements) — learns about the therapy.
2. Private health insurance / supplementary insurance / civil-servant aid
   • If you are privately insured, please check with your insurer before starting therapy how many psychotherapy sessions per year are reimbursed and bring the relevant application forms to your first appointment. Coverage varies widely between insurers and contracts.
   • For reimbursement through private health insurance you will receive an invoice for my services based on the German fee ordinance for psychotherapists (GOP). Patients entitled to civil-servant aid (Beihilfe) additionally submit the invoice to their aid office.

Tax information / tips (no guarantee)

• Healing treatments — including psychotherapy — are VAT-exempt in Germany (§ 4 No. 14 UStG).
• Psychotherapy paid out of pocket can be claimed as an extraordinary expense in your German tax return.
• Coaching can often be deducted as professional development.