Psychologist in Germany: psychotherapist Approbation (2026)

• A completed qualification that, in the country where you gained it, was required for direct access to a profession corresponding to psychotherapist (§ 11(1) PsychThG).
• Equivalence with the German qualification (the psychotherapy degree programmes and the psychotherapeutic state exam), or a passed knowledge test.
• German at B2, and usually a specialist language exam; the Recognition Finder profiles give its level as C2.
• No conduct that makes you unworthy or unreliable to practise: a certificate of good conduct from Germany and your country of origin, no more than three months old.
• Medical fitness: a doctor's certificate from Germany and your country of origin, no more than three months old.
• Evidence of your training content, supervised clinical practice and professional experience, with employment references.
• For the residence title: a job offer or a reason to stay such as the knowledge test, and the permit that fits.

Check your route with the route finder

• ApprobationState licensing authorities (Approbation)

  Doctors, dentists and pharmacists; nurses through professional recognition

  Read the registration guide

1. 1

   Check whether your qualification licensed psychotherapy

   Before anything else, confirm that the qualification you hold was required in your country of training for direct access to practising as a psychotherapist (or the corresponding profession). A general psychology degree is usually not enough on its own. Ask the authority or a recognition counselling service if you are unsure; it saves months.
2. 2

   Find your competent authority

   Approbation is granted by the authority of the federal state where you want to work, and is valid across Germany. Examples are LAGeSo in Berlin, the Bezirksregierung Münster in NRW and the ZAABY at the Regierung von Oberbayern in Bavaria. The Recognition Finder names the authority for your city.
3. 3

   Collect and translate your documents

   You need the application form, passport, CV, qualification and licence, evidence of training content and supervised practice, employment references, a certificate of good conduct and a medical certificate (both no more than three months old), and a German language certificate. Documents must be in German, translated by sworn or authorised translators.
4. 4

   Apply and wait for the equivalence decision

   The authority confirms receipt within one month and decides within four months of a complete file, and may extend this. It may commission a report from the Gutachtenstelle für Gesundheitsberufe (GfG), which can add cost.
5. 5

   Sit the specialist language exam

   After you apply, the authority can register you for the specialist language examination, which in most states is run by the state Chamber of Psychotherapists. The Recognition Finder profiles give its level as C2. There are some exceptions; the authority tells you if you are exempt.
6. 6

   Pass the knowledge test if differences are found

   If the authority finds substantial differences, you take the knowledge test: an application-oriented circuit exam in German. States must make sure you can sit it within six months of the decision, and you may repeat it twice (§ 65 PsychThApprO).
7. 7

   Receive Approbation

   Once equivalence (or the knowledge test), good conduct, health and German are confirmed, you receive Approbation as Psychotherapeutin or Psychotherapeut. You then have the same professional rights as someone who qualified in Germany.
8. 8

   Plan the next stage of your career

   Working in a hospital or clinic is the usual start. Specialist recognition and treating patients within the statutory health insurance system involve further requirements set by the chambers and other bodies, so check these before planning private practice.

• Kenntnisprüfung: application-oriented circuit exam

  Under §§ 64 and 65 of the Psychotherapy Licensing Regulations (PsychThApprO) the knowledge test is an anwendungsorientierte Parcoursprüfung, held as part of the psychotherapeutic exam and taken in German. The circuit has two stations (§ 48) covering patient safety, diagnosis, patient information and consent, guideline-based treatment recommendations, and the therapeutic relationship, which is tested at both stations. You may repeat it twice.

• Exam dates

  The circuit exam is held in the winter semester from March and in the summer semester from September at the earliest (§ 46 PsychThApprO), and you must be summoned at least seven days before. States must let you sit it within six months of the decision.

• Specialist language exam

  Usually required in addition to B2 German, mostly run by the state Chamber of Psychotherapists. The Recognition Finder profiles for Berlin, NRW and Bavaria give the level as C2.

• German at B2 of the CEFR is required, according to the Recognition Finder profiles for Berlin, NRW and Bavaria.
• You are also usually required to pass a specialist language examination; the profiles give its level as C2. In most states the Chamber of Psychotherapists runs it.
• The knowledge test itself must be taken in German (§ 65(2) PsychThApprO).
• You can send the language certificate after you apply.
• English tests are not accepted instead of German, and therapy delivered in English or Arabic does not count as German evidence.

Estimate your total cost

• Acknowledgement within one month of your application, according to the Recognition Finder.
• Decision within four months of a complete file; it may be extended, for example if a GfG report is commissioned.
• Knowledge test within six months of the decision, held from March or September at the earliest.
• Specialist language exam: arranged after you apply, through the authority and usually the chamber.
• ZAB Statement of Comparability for a psychology degree (not Approbation): within three months, according to the Recognition Finder.

In municipal hospitals the VKA Entgeltordnung places psychological psychotherapists and child and adolescent psychotherapists with Approbation in EG 14. These are the VKA's monthly gross Anlage A table rates valid from 1 May 2026. New staff start on step 1 unless they have at least one year of relevant experience (step 2) or three years (usually step 3). Ask your employer how it groups psychotherapists licensed under the 2020 law; university, church and private employers set their own pay.

Monthly amounts

• EG 14, step 1

  €5,298.27

  Psychotherapist with Approbation in a matching role.

• EG 14, step 3

  €6,094.01

• EG 14, step 6 (top)

  €7,551.78

• Psychiatric and psychosomatic hospitals and clinics are the main employers of newly licensed psychotherapists.
• Rehabilitation clinics and university hospitals also employ psychotherapists, under their own pay agreements.
• Counselling services and community mental health services employ psychologists, sometimes without Approbation, for roles that are not psychotherapy.
• Private practice within the statutory health insurance system has its own admission rules; most people work in a clinic first.
• Check whether a job is advertised for a Psychotherapeut with Approbation or for a psychologist: the requirements and pay differ.

• Your nationality does not decide recognition; where you trained does. If you are not an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen you also need a residence title to work in Germany.
• Once your Approbation is granted, a degree-level professional usually applies under § 18b AufenthG (skilled workers with an academic qualification) or for the EU Blue Card (§ 18g AufenthG), depending on salary and the job.
• If the authority's notice says you need a compensation measure, § 16d(1) AufenthG allows a residence permit to complete it, including the exams that follow. It is issued for up to 24 months and can be extended by up to 12 months, to a maximum of three years, and allows other work of up to 20 hours a week. German at A2 ("hinreichende" knowledge, as § 2 AufenthG defines it) is the usual minimum.
• Under the recognition partnership (§ 16d(3) AufenthG) you can enter with a job offer and start the recognition procedure after arrival. You need a state-recognised qualification of at least two years' training or a degree, a concrete job offer, an agreement with your employer that you will apply promptly and that it will let you complete the compensation measure, and German at A2 or above.
• § 16d(5) AufenthG allows a residence permit just to sit recognition exams; it does not allow you to work.
• A national visa (category D) costs €75 under § 46 of the Residence Ordinance (AufenthV). Visa processing times are set by each German mission; check with the embassy or consulate that serves you.

1. 1

   A DHA, DOH, MOHAP, SCFHS, QCHP or other Gulf licence as a clinical psychologist does not transfer. The authority looks at the qualification you gained and whether, in the country where you gained it, it gave direct access to practising psychotherapy.

2. 2

   If you trained in one country and were licensed in the Gulf afterwards, it is the country of training that matters for § 11(1) PsychThG. Bring the licensing rules of that country, not only your Gulf licence.

3. 3

   § 11(3) PsychThG lets documented practice, in any country, offset substantial differences. Detailed letters on letterhead showing your caseload, supervision and therapy methods help.

4. 4

   The Recognition Finder asks for a certificate of good conduct from Germany and your country of origin, no more than three months old, and lists a certificate of good standing as evidence. Request good standing from each Gulf regulator you have held a licence with.

5. 5

   Plan German early: you need B2 and usually a specialist language exam that the profiles give as C2, and the knowledge test is in German.

• Application plan with every step, fee and deadline

• Document checklist tailored to you, and a review of each document before upload

• Timeline built around the regulator's closure windows and document validity periods

• Help completing the application forms accurately and consistently

• Support with profession-specific evidence, such as the HCPC standards of proficiency mapping

• Guidance on certificates of good standing, references and certified translations

• Preparation for identity checks and declarations on health and character

• Tracking your application and help responding to regulator requests

• Next steps after the decision: exams, adaptation, PIN or licence and your first job

Regulators make all registration decisions and set all fees. Our fee is separate from the regulator's fees, exam fees and translation costs.

What our registration and licensing support includesPackages and fees