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Psychotherapist; application for a license to practice if trained in a third country

Psychotherapists can apply for a license to practice if they have completed their psychotherapeutic training outside of an EU member state, an EEA member state or Switzerland and wish to work as a psychotherapist in Bavaria.

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If you want to work as a psychotherapist in Germany, you need a special professional license - the Approbation.

If you have completed psychotherapeutic training and want to work as a psychotherapist in Bavaria, the government of Upper Bavaria is responsible for the whole of Bavaria.

Licensure is subject to various requirements relating to the successful completion of training as a psychotherapist as well as personal and health-related suitability for practicing the profession.

Applicants who have completed their training outside the European Union and the European Economic Area can only be granted a license to practice if they have an equivalent level of training, provided that all other requirements are met.

If the equivalence of the level of training is not given or can only be determined with unreasonable time or material effort, an equivalent level of knowledge must be demonstrated. This proof is provided by passing a knowledge test that covers the content of the state final examination.

  • Birth certificate/parentage certificate or extract from the parents' family register
    (certified copy)
  • if the name used differs from that on the birth certificate: proof of a change of name (e.g. marriage certificate)
    (certified copy)
  • valid proof of identity (e.g. passport)
    (certified copy)
  • complete and personally signed curriculum vitae

    (tabular and chronological list of the training courses completed and the relevant gainful activities pursued, stating the periods (month/year) and enclosing the relevant supporting documents)

  • Proof of impunity
    • Submission of criminal record extracts from all countries outside Germany in which the applicant has resided for more than six months.
    • The criminal record extracts must not be older than three months at the time of submission.
    • Certified copies of these extracts must be submitted.
  • Proof of your completed education (certified copy)
    • Proof of education such as diploma
    • If applicable, further country-specific certificates
    • Overview of subjects completed during studies with number of hours and grades
    • If applicable, proof of compulsory internships completed
  • Proof of authorisation to practise medicine in the country of training and/or the country of origin
    (certified copy)
  • if applicable, certificate of good standing (certified copy)

    (Required from all countries where the health professional activity has already been exercised in the last five years. This certificate must not be older than three months at the time of its presentation).

  • If applicable, evidence of activity in the medical profession (e.g. certificates of employment and further training).
    (original or certified copy)
  • Curriculum/study book, if applicable
    (in original)
  • Proof of the language skills required for practicing the profession
    (Proof can be provided in different ways. You can find more information on this under "Special instructions").
  • On separate request:
    • Certificate of good conduct of document type "O
      • If the applicant has already stayed in Germany for more than six months in the past or has had or still has a residence in Germany.
      • In Germany, this must be applied for at the registration office of the place of residence, stating the purpose "Approbation as a psychotherapist". The certificate of good conduct is sent directly to the competent authority by the Federal Office of Justice.
      • It must not be older than one month when presented.
    • Medical certificate (original)
      • It must be issued and signed by a general practitioner or a doctor specialising in internal medicine who is established in Germany or another state party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area or in Switzerland and must bear a practice or clinic stamp. If the practice or clinic stamp is not available in German, a German translation of the stamp is required.
      • It must not be older than three months at the time of presentation.

If you did not obtain your training in an EU/EEA country or Switzerland and the equivalence of your training or knowledge needs to be checked, you will have to pay between EUR 280 and EUR 500 for your license to practise.

The application for approval is not subject to a time limit.

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 proof is not deemed to have been provided in accordance with 1. or 2. above, the language skills required for practicing the profession shall be deemed to have been demonstrated by submission of a certificate of successful completion of the specialist language test at the Bavarian Chamber of Psychotherapists.

4 Specialist language tests taken at the Chamber of Psychotherapists or the competent authority of another state, as well as special specialist language tests from other examination institutions, are recognized if they are suitable to prove 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.

Administrative court action

Status: 10.09.2024
Editorial responsibility Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Gesundheit, Pflege und Prävention
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