Licence to practise/professional permit for training as a psychotherapist outside the European Union (third country)

Have you completed your training as a psychotherapist outside the European Union (EU) and intend to carry out this profession in Berlin in the future? To practise medicine, which includes the practice of psychotherapy, you need a state licence, either

• a licence to practise as a psychotherapist
  (licences authorise the holder to practise independently for an unlimited period of time in the Federal Republic of Germany. The professional licence is only valid for the state of Berlin and only for two years) or
• the Heilpraktiker licence, limited to the field of psychotherapy, which is issued for an unlimited period of time.

The prerequisite for a licence to practise as a psychotherapist is the submission of

• proof that your professional qualification entitles you to direct access to the profession of psychotherapist in the country in which it was obtained (so-called authorisation to practise) and
• of training certificates, in particular psychological degrees (Bachelor’s and Master’s) from universities and equivalent institutions of higher education, which are required to obtain the professional qualification for direct access to the profession of psychotherapist.

If you do not have a licence to practise and cannot provide the relevant training certificates, you can apply to the Lichtenberg District Office or the Tempelhof-Schöneberg District Office for a Heilpraktiker licence. Further information can be found here:

Non-medical practitioner section of the District Office Tempelhof-Schöneberg, Berlin

Non-medical practitioner section of the District Office Lichtenberg, Berlin

You can download the application for a licence to practise/professional permit as a psychotherapist under the link Application for a licence to practise/professional permit as Psychotherapist (Third Country).

The list of documents to be submitted can be found in the Checklist for persons with third-country training. You can submit any documents that you do not have at the time of application – as complete as possible – at a later date.

Please send the documents as officially notarised copies by post. In Berlin, copies are notarised by the citizens’ offices or by notaries.
You do not need to appear in person at the authority to process your application.

The licence to practise/professional permit can only be issued if you have the German language skills required for your professional activity. This must be proven in a specialised language test (C 2) at the Chamber of Psychotherapists.

For further information, please refer to the notes

• Information sheet about the specialised language test for psychotherapists

  PDF-Document (101.7 kB)

• Checklist for persons with third-country training

  PDF-Document (97.0 kB)

• Application for a licence to practise/professional permit as Psychotherapist (Third Country)

  Sample, please submit the German application form

  PDF-Document (280.4 kB)

• Medical Certificate

  PDF-Document (52.3 kB)

If your training differs significantly from the corresponding psychotherapy training in the Federal Republic of Germany and you cannot compensate for these differences through relevant professional experience, you must take a knowledge test.

Further information can be found in the following procedural principles for conducting knowledge tests (the procedural principles are currently being revised and will be updated here soon)

Further information can be found at:

Recognition in Germany – Information Portal for the recognition of foreign professional and vocational qualifications