Mental health support in Berlin

Berliner Krisendienst (Berlin crisis service) helps with psychosocial crises up to acute psychiatric emergencies: free of charge, anonymous on request, by phone 24 hours a day, in person and, in urgent situations, at your home, with a doctor if needed. Video counselling is available by appointment.

• Nine regional locations are open in person daily from 16:00 to 24:00, without appointment. Call the number for your district, for example (030) 390 63 10 for Mitte and Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, (030) 390 63 20 for Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, (030) 390 63 40 for Pankow or (030) 390 63 90 for Neukölln. All numbers run from 390 63 10 to 390 63 90; the full list is on the Krisendienst website.
• Outside these hours, calls are passed to the citywide on-call service in Mitte, which is staffed every night from 24:00 to 8:00 and on weekends and public holidays from 8:00 to 16:00. On weekdays from 8:00 to 16:00 it gives information and referrals by phone only.
• Conversations are usually in German. The service has multilingual staff and works with interpreters, but foreign-language counselling may need some preparation time, so say which language you need when you call.

TelefonSeelsorge (listening line): 0800 111 0 111, 0800 111 0 222 or 116 123, free, anonymous, day and night, also by chat and email. It is offered in German; its website lists helplines in other countries and languages, which are charged at international rates.

Nummer gegen Kummer for children and young people: 116 111.

If the crisis involves drugs or alcohol, the Berlin drug emergency service (Drogennotdienst) is on (030) 19237.

Each Berlin district has a social-psychiatric service (Sozialpsychiatrischer Dienst) at its health office (Gesundheitsamt). It advises adults with mental illness or addiction and their relatives, organises further help, and intervenes in crises. It is free, no documents are needed, and you go to the service of the district where you live. You can reach it on weekdays from 8:00 to 16:00 via the Berlin service number 115, which connects you to your district, or find the address on the service.berlin.de page.

For children and teenagers, the districts' child and adolescent psychiatric services (Kinder- und Jugendpsychiatrischer Dienst) offer advice and assessments, also via 115.

Outpatient psychotherapy is a regular benefit of statutory health insurance. It is provided by licensed psychological psychotherapists, medical psychotherapists and, for children and young people, specialised therapists. The steps:

1. Psychotherapeutic consultation hour (psychotherapeutische Sprechstunde). This always comes first. You discuss your situation, whether there is a diagnosis, whether psychotherapy would help and which form fits, or whether other help such as a day clinic, rehabilitation, a self-help group or a counselling centre is better. You may have first conversations with different therapists to find someone you feel comfortable with.
2. Acute treatment (Akutbehandlung), if you need help quickly: up to 12 sessions of 50 minutes, without an application to your insurer. It can start directly after the consultation hour.
3. Trial sessions (probatorische Sitzungen) to prepare a longer therapy, after which the therapist applies to your insurer for short-term or long-term therapy. You usually sign the application together.
4. Group therapy is considered at least as effective as individual therapy; a short group format (gruppenpsychotherapeutische Grundversorgung) can start without an application.

Four methods are recognised for outpatient therapy: behavioural therapy (Verhaltenstherapie), psychodynamic therapy (tiefenpsychologisch fundierte Psychotherapie), analytic therapy and systemic therapy. Sessions can often take place by video.

• Search: use the official doctor and psychotherapist search of the 116117 patient service. Filter by "Psychotherapie", your area and foreign languages to find therapists who state they work in English or another language. Language data is supplied by the practices, so confirm when you call.
• Call practices directly. Psychotherapy practices with a full licence must be reachable by phone for appointments for at least 200 minutes a week, so many practices have fixed phone hours. Check the practice website or answering machine for them.
• Use the appointment service. With statutory insurance, call 116117 or book online at 116117-termine.de for a consultation-hour appointment; no code is needed for this first step.
• After the consultation hour you receive a form (PTV 11) with the result. If it states that treatment is needed promptly (zeitnah erforderlich), it carries a referral code (Vermittlungscode) that you can use at 116117 to book acute treatment or trial sessions in another practice with free capacity.
• Time limits: the appointment service must find you an appointment within one week, and the appointment must be no more than four weeks away (two weeks for acute treatment), so in total at most about five weeks (three for acute treatment). If no practice is available in time, it must offer you an appointment at a hospital outpatient clinic.
• If you still cannot get timely treatment, the law obliges insurers to reimburse the cost of an urgently needed service that they could not provide in time (Kostenerstattung). This can apply to therapy with a licensed therapist who is not part of the statutory system. Ask your insurer before starting, and keep a record of the practices you contacted.

Your family doctor is also a good first contact: they can assess physical causes, prescribe medication if appropriate and refer you to a psychiatrist (Facharzt für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie).

If you are privately insured, coverage of psychotherapy depends on your policy. Before you start, check whether it limits the number of sessions or requires approval in advance. You can also pay privately; ask the practice for its fees in advance.

Statutory insurance pays for psychotherapy by licensed psychotherapists (with a German Approbation) and doctors. Before paying privately for counselling or coaching, check the provider's qualifications.