Advertising rules for clinical psychologists and health psychologists in Austria: what you may say

Advertising rules for clinical psychologists: Psychologengesetz and Ethikrichtlinie

Clinical psychology and health psychology are health professions regulated by law in Austria. There is no chamber, so the advertising rules are set out directly in the Psychologengesetz 2013 (PG), in § 38:

Violations of § 38 are administrative offences with fines of up to €15,000 (§ 47 Abs. 4 PG). The same penalty range applies if you disregard the rules on professional titles. In addition, the Bundesgesetz gegen den unlauteren Wettbewerb (UWG, Unfair Competition Act) applies: competitors can send a cease-and-desist letter for misleading advertising and sue for an injunction.

What “objective” means in practice is described in the Ministry of Health’s Ethikrichtlinie in the chapter “Leistungen in der Öffentlichkeit” (services in public). It is not a law, but it specifies the professional duties under the Psychologengesetz and is therefore the benchmark against which complaints are measured. The ministry has not published a separate advertising guideline for clinical and health psychologists.

What you may and should show

Under the Ethikrichtlinie, you may refer to your work in a promotional way, in the sense of information, provided the advertising is limited to the objective, verifiable announcement of your services. For your website, this means:

• Name, professional title and academic degrees
• Your specialisations, exactly as they appear in the professional register
• Your services in clear words: clinical-psychological diagnostics, reports and expert opinions, clinical-psychological treatment, health-psychological counselling or workplace health promotion projects
• Areas of focus, settings and target groups, such as children and adolescents, couples or older people
• Languages, step-free access, online appointments
• Fees, services covered by the insurance funds and reimbursement
• Memberships, for example in the professional association BÖP
• Professional further training and special working tools, if their effectiveness is scientifically proven and you can prove sufficient knowledge of them

Where the line is

Unobjective is anything that does not inform verifiably but instead promotes, puts pressure on people or raises expectations that no one can guarantee. Typical examples on practice websites:

• Promises of cure: “Free of anxiety in five sessions” or “Never have a panic attack again”
• Superlatives and exclusivity: “Vienna’s most experienced neuropsychologist” or “the only trauma psychologist in the district”
• Comparisons and disparagement of colleagues, other professions or methods
• Discount offers: “Free first session, March only” or “10 sessions for the price of 8”
• Intrusive advertising: car lettering, unaddressed mail drops, promotional emails or calls without consent
• Methods without proof of effectiveness that appear to be part of clinical-psychological treatment

Professional title, specialisations and clear terms

The Psychologengesetz regulates precisely who may use which title. Mistakes in the title are among the most common complaints about websites.

• “Psychologin” or “Psychologe” (psychologist) may only be used by those with a psychology degree of at least 300 ECTS or an equivalent qualification (§ 4 PG). Titles that imply this title are also prohibited.
• “Klinische Psychologin”, “Klinischer Psychologe” or “Klinische:r Psycholog:in” (clinical psychologist) may only be used by people entered in the professional register (§ 29 PG). The same applies to health psychologists (§ 20 PG). If you work self-employed, you must use the title and mark your practice location with it.
• Specialisations: At most four may appear in brackets after the professional title, e.g. “Klinische Psychologin (Kinder-, Jugend- und Familienpsychologie)” (child, adolescent and family psychology) (§ 29 Abs. 5 and § 20 Abs. 5 PG). The prerequisite is demonstrable knowledge, typically several years of work in that area and further training of at least 120 units. Which designations are permitted is set out in the ministry’s Spezialisierungsrichtlinie (guideline on specialisations).
• Confusingly similar titles that falsely suggest an authorisation for clinical psychology or health psychology are forbidden to everyone else (§ 29 Abs. 4, § 20 Abs. 4 PG).

Made-up titles such as “burnout expert” or “anxiety specialist” are not specialisations within the meaning of the law. They look like an additional qualification that does not exist. Write “Area of focus: exhaustion and burnout” instead.

Use the terms of the law

The Ethikrichtlinie requires you to clearly distinguish your services, in content and visually, from other therapeutic professions regulated by law, explicitly on your website too. The safest choice is the terms of the Psychologengesetz: “klinisch-psychologische Diagnostik” (clinical-psychological diagnostics), “klinisch-psychologische Behandlung” (clinical-psychological treatment) and “gesundheitspsychologische Beratung” (health-psychological counselling). “Therapy” on its own leaves open who is behind it. You may not use “Psychotherapie” for your services: titles that falsely suggest an authorisation to practise psychotherapy are prohibited (§ 8 Abs. 7 Psychotherapiegesetz 2024).

No client testimonials, no success rates

Testimonials don’t fit a profession with a statutory duty of confidentiality (§ 37 PG). Even a friendly quote reveals that someone was in treatment with you. Someone who is asked for a recommendation during treatment can hardly say no freely. And sentences like “After eight sessions I was sleeping well again” raise expectations that have nothing to do with objective information.

The same applies to success rates (“90% of our clients feel better after treatment”) and star widgets. Even if a figure is correct, it says nothing about the individual person. That is why our websites for psychology practices deliberately have no review or testimonial section. Trust comes from an honest portrait, a clear description of how you work and transparent fees.

Making fees, insurance cover and reimbursement transparent

The Ethikrichtlinie requires you to explain in advance the costs of your services, billing with social insurance and the associated transfer of data. A clear fees page takes care of a large part of this before anyone contacts you. Here, transparency is both a duty and good marketing.

What you should avoid: “special price”, “free first session, March only” or package discounts. That is promotion and puts the commercial side ahead of the professional one. You may mention a free short phone call to get to know each other in an objective way, if you offer it to everyone.

Google reviews: don’t prevent them, don’t ask for them

Anyone can review your practice’s Google Business Profile. You can only have reviews removed that violate Google’s guidelines, such as offensive or obviously fake ones. You should not actively ask your clients for reviews: the request puts them in a role that conflicts with the treatment, and every public review makes it visible that someone came to you.

• Replying: Never confirm that someone is your client, not even in response to unfair criticism. A short, general reply without reference to the treatment is enough; often no reply is best.
• Embedding: Stars or review widgets don’t belong on your website.
• Maintaining: Keep opening hours, address, professional title and website link in your profile up to date. How to do this is shown in the post on the Google profile. Check how your page looks in search results with the Google preview.

Social media, professional articles and online services

The Ethikrichtlinie makes it clear: on the internet and in social networks too, your services must meet the required objectivity and verifiable impartiality. Professional content is explicitly possible and often the best advertising.

• Psychoeducation: Posts on stress, sleep, concentration or anxiety are allowed if they are professionally accurate and contain no promises of cure.
• Case examples: Only heavily disguised, so that no one, not even the person concerned, recognises themselves.
• No counselling by direct message: Refer to the first session and give emergency numbers for acute crises.
• Online appointments: § 32a PG allows online services only synchronously with sound and picture and only where there is a professional or geographical reason and the client agrees; you document the reason. Confidentiality and data protection apply just the same. State clearly what you offer by video and what only in the practice, such as test diagnostics.
• Ads: Search ads for your profession are not explicitly prohibited. But they must remain objective: professional title, services, location. Superlatives, discounts or promises of cure are not allowed there either.

Ban on commissions: no money for referrals

You may not give, take or be promised any payment for the referral or recommendation of people for clinical psychology or health psychology (§ 38 Abs. 2 PG). Such agreements are void, and the ban also applies to other persons and companies. The Ethikrichtlinie adds: benefits that could influence your objectivity are also off limits; small tokens of appreciation customary in the area or country may be harmless. In practice, this mainly concerns:

• Referral platforms that charge a fee per person referred or per booked first session
• “Referral bonuses” for doctors, schools, companies or colleagues
• Affiliate links through which you earn a share from apps, tests or books you recommend to clients

A directory listing with a fixed annual fee, regardless of the number of enquiries, is something else. But check the small print before you sign up.

Quick check for your texts

Which details belong in the Impressum (legal notice) is covered in the mandatory information for clinical and health psychologists. If you are just starting out: the guide to opening your own psychology practice takes you from the professional register to opening day. What the rules look like for other health professions is shown in the posts on advertising for doctors and advertising for physiotherapists.