Psychological Counseling and Health Insurance

The statutory health insurer does not cover psychological counseling unrelated to illness. The Psychotherapy Guidelines draw the line for statutory health insurance (GKV) at the connection to illness: what is paid for is what is meant to diagnose, cure, or alleviate an illness. Psychotherapy is expressly excluded if “it serves solely the purpose of parenting, marriage, life, and sexual counseling, as well as couples and family counseling.”

The Other Side of Out-of-Pocket Payments

There is another side to this distinction. Since no insurer is involved, no report or diagnosis goes to it either; only you and the counselor are involved; in the case of a licensed practitioner, the legal duty of confidentiality applies. There is still documentation of the conversations, as in every practice. And if a disability insurance provider later asks about treatments and counseling, the wording of that question determines what is to be disclosed.

Two Ways to the Insurer, One Without It

Anyone who needs treatment gets the insurer involved mainly in two ways: through a therapy spot in a practice or, if the insurer does not make a necessary treatment possible in time, through the reimbursement procedure with its own requirements. Anyone seeking clarity unrelated to illness pays out of pocket, and I offer counseling as a self-pay service for exactly that.