Legal notice & data protection for a psychology practice in Germany: counselling, coaching and the Heilpraktiker licence

Clarify first: counselling, assessment or Heilkunde?

If you studied psychology in Germany and open your own practice without an Approbation, you work in one of three fields. The line is drawn by the Heilpraktikergesetz (HeilprG, Alternative Practitioners Act): Heilkunde is any professional or commercial activity to diagnose, cure or relieve illness (§ 1 Abs. 2 HeilprG), and anyone who wants to practise it without an Approbation needs a licence. Diagnosing or treating mental disorders of clinical significance is Heilkunde; doing so without a licence is a criminal offence (§ 5 HeilprG).

Legal notice for psychologists under § 5 DDG

Since May 2024, the Digitale-Dienste-Gesetz (DDG, Digital Services Act) has governed the Impressum obligation; § 5 DDG replaced § 5 TMG. The details must be easily recognisable, directly accessible and permanently available: in practice, an “Impressum” link in the footer of every page. Even if you only offer counselling or coaching, you run a business-related digital service and need an Impressum.

Supervisory authority: § 5 Abs. 1 Nr. 3 DDG requires details of the competent supervisory authority if your activity needs official approval. This is not the case for psychological counselling and coaching. The Heilpraktikererlaubnis, on the other hand, is such an approval. Which authority is responsible is up to each federal state: usually it is the Gesundheitsamt where your practice is located; in Bavaria, for example, the Kreisverwaltungsbehörde (district administrative authority) decides with the involvement of the Gesundheitsamt. Name the authority from your licence notice or the Gesundheitsamt responsible for your practice location, and ask there if in doubt.

Chamber and professional law: The details under § 5 Abs. 1 Nr. 5 DDG (chamber, statutory professional title, professional regulations) concern regulated professions. There is no chamber you belong to. With a Heilpraktikererlaubnis, it is common and harmless to also name the Heilpraktikergesetz as the legal basis, with a link. You may mention voluntary association memberships, for example in the BDP (Berufsverband Deutscher Psychologinnen und Psychologen, the German professional association of psychologists); they don’t replace any mandatory detail.

Professional title: what you may and may not use

• Without an Approbation, you may not call yourself “Psychotherapeut:in”, not even with a Heilpraktikererlaubnis (§ 1 Abs. 1 PsychThG, a criminal offence under § 132a StGB).
• Heilpraktikererlaubnis: The limited licence does not entitle you to call yourself simply “Heilpraktiker:in”. Legally safe is “Heilpraktikerin” or “Heilpraktiker, beschränkt auf das Gebiet der Psychotherapie”, as recommended, for example, by the Bavarian implementing guidelines for the Heilpraktikergesetz.
• “Psychologin” and “Diplom-Psychologe”: The academic degree (Dipl.-Psych., M.Sc. Psychologie) is protected. Clients associate the title “Psychologin” with a completed degree in psychology; anyone who uses it without such a degree risks a cease-and-desist letter for misleading information.
• Certificates: Titles such as “Fachpsychologin für …” (certified specialist psychologist in …) come from professional associations. Name them together with the awarding association so they don’t look like a state title.
• Wording of your services: Without a licence, no “therapy”, “treatment” or “cure” of depression, anxiety disorders or trauma. Write “psychological counselling”, “coaching” or “stress management” and refer clients with conditions of clinical significance to licensed practitioners.

Without a Heilpraktikererlaubnis, the lines on the supervisory authority and the Heilpraktikergesetz are dropped. What remains is your name, degree, address, contact details and, where applicable, VAT ID number, association and liability insurance.

Further mandatory details: liability insurance, blog and dispute resolution

• Professional liability insurance (§ 2 Abs. 1 Nr. 11 DL-InfoV): Counselling, coaching and training fall under the Dienstleistungs-Informationspflichten-Verordnung (DL-InfoV, Service Information Ordinance). If you have professional liability insurance, state the insurer’s name and address and the territorial scope, most simply in the Impressum. The DL-InfoV does not apply to health services, i.e. treatment with a Heilpraktikererlaubnis (§ 1 DL-InfoV); if you offer both, name the insurance anyway.
• Blog (§ 18 Abs. 2 MStV): If you write journalistic-editorial articles, for example on stress, exam anxiety or resilience, name a responsible person with name and address (Medienstaatsvertrag, Interstate Media Treaty).
• Consumer dispute resolution (§ 36 VSBG): Businesses that run a website must state whether they take part in proceedings before a consumer arbitration board. With ten or fewer employees on 31 December of the previous year, you are exempt; a short sentence (“We do not take part”) does no harm.
• ODR platform: The EU online dispute resolution platform was shut down on 20 July 2025. Remove the old link.

Confidentiality: who § 203 StGB applies to

§ 203 Abs. 1 Nr. 2 StGB explicitly names “Berufspsychologen mit staatlich anerkannter wissenschaftlicher Abschlussprüfung” (professional psychologists with a state-recognised academic final examination). With a Diplom or Master’s degree in psychology, you are therefore bound by professional secrecy, whether you counsel, coach or assess. Heilpraktiker:innen without a degree in psychology are not covered by Nr. 2; and because the Heilpraktiker profession has no state-regulated training, according to the prevailing view not by Nr. 1 either. They still have to work confidentially: under the treatment contract and the GDPR.

Since 2017, the following applies to people bound by professional secrecy: you may pass on secrets to external service providers if this is necessary for their service, for example to hosting providers, IT support or a video service (§ 203 Abs. 3 StGB). But you commit an offence if you have not obliged them to secrecy and they disclose something (§ 203 Abs. 4 StGB).

Privacy policy, cookies and forms

If someone describes sleep problems, panic attacks or a break-up in your contact form, that quickly becomes health data under Art. 9 GDPR, even if you “only” counsel. For medical treatment, Art. 9(2)(h) GDPR and § 22 BDSG (Federal Data Protection Act) allow processing by people bound by secrecy; outside of that, you usually need explicit consent. The safest option is a form that doesn’t ask about the concern at all. Under § 38 BDSG, you need a data protection officer if, as a rule, at least 20 people are constantly involved in the automated processing of personal data.

Cookies and similar technologies are governed by § 25 TDDDG: storing or reading information on a device only with consent, unless it is strictly necessary for the service the user explicitly requested. The fewer third-party services your website loads, the shorter your banner and privacy policy. What to keep in mind when advertising and making promises of success, including under the Heilmittelwerbegesetz (Therapeutic Products Advertising Act), is covered in the post Advertising for psychologists in Germany.

Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz (BFSG)

The BFSG (Accessibility Strengthening Act) has applied since 28 June 2025. It covers e-commerce services for consumers, such as online booking with a contract, online courses or paid coaching packages. Microenterprises that provide services are exempt under § 3 Abs. 3 BFSG: fewer than ten employees and an annual turnover or balance sheet total of no more than €2 million. This applies to most single-person practices. An accessible website still makes sense: plain language, good contrast and a page that also works with a keyboard or screen reader.

Checklist for your website

What else belongs on your website is shown in the post What belongs on a practice website; the way to your own practice is described in Setting up as a psychologist in Germany. How to be found on Google is shown in the guide to the Google Business Profile.