Prerequisites
In principle, the most important requirement is that you can prove that you have completed a full course of psychotherapeutic training in accordance with the law of the country in which you completed your training.
Further requirements are
- that you have not been guilty of any conduct that makes you unworthy or unreliable to practise the psychotherapeutic profession (reliability),
- you are not unfit from a health point of view to practise the psychotherapeutic profession (health suitability) and
- you have the knowledge of the German language required for practicing the profession (language skills).
Procedure
You must submit the application for the permit together with the required documents to the responsible government.
In Bavaria, the government of Upper Bavaria is responsible for issuing the permit for activities in the administrative districts of Upper Bavaria, Lower Bavaria, Swabia and Upper Palatinate, as well as the government of Lower Franconia for activities in the administrative districts of Upper Franconia, Middle Franconia and Lower Franconia.
Special notes
The granting of a license to practice medicine or a professional permit requires, among other things, that you have the necessary knowledge of the German language to practice your profession. The 87th Conference of Health Ministers in 2014 agreed in a key points paper on the requirements for knowledge of the German language and how this knowledge can be demonstrated. The following applies:
1. the required German language skills are deemed to be proven for applicants for whom the licensing authority determines without doubt that German is spoken and written fluently (e.g. as a native language) or that the completion of medical, dental, pharmaceutical or psychotherapeutic training (proof of training) was obtained in German.
2. proof of the required German language skills is generally deemed to have been provided if the applicant has completed at least ten years of general schooling at a German-speaking school or has completed at least three years of vocational training in German.
3. if the proof is not deemed to have been provided in accordance with 1. or 2. above, the language skills required for exercising the profession are deemed to have been provided by submitting a certificate from an ALTE-certified language institute at level B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) (certified copy).
4. specialist language tests taken at the Chamber of Psychotherapists or the competent authority of another country, as well as special specialist language tests from other examination institutions, are recognized if they are suitable for demonstrating the language skills required to practice the profession. Whether this requirement is met in individual cases must be clarified in advance with the competent professional licensing office.