Key points at a glance
- The Impressum (legal notice) follows § 5 DDG: you name your Landespsychotherapeutenkammer (state chamber of psychotherapists), the statutory professional title, the country that awarded it and the Berufsordnung (professional code) with a link.
- With a Kassensitz (statutory health insurance licence), the Kassenärztliche Vereinigung must be named as the supervisory authority.
- The title “Psychotherapeut:in” is reserved for licensed members of the profession (§ 1 PsychThG); the therapeutic approach and further training designations may be added.
- Professional secrecy under § 203 StGB also covers IT service providers: your form, email and video tool have to match it.
- On top of that come the GDPR/BDSG, § 25 TDDDG for cookies and the statement under § 36 VSBG; the link to the ODR platform is no longer needed.
This post is general information and does not replace legal or tax advice. Rules change – check details with your chamber, your professional association or your tax adviser.
Legal notice of a psychotherapy practice under § 5 DDG
Since May 2024, the Digitale-Dienste-Gesetz (DDG, Digital Services Act) has governed the Impressum requirement; § 5 DDG replaced § 5 TMG. The details must be easy to recognise, directly accessible and permanently available: a link labelled “Impressum” in the footer of every page. The model professional code of the Bundespsychotherapeutenkammer (Federal Chamber of Psychotherapists) states expressly in § 23 Abs. 4 that your online presence must also comply with the DDG.
The Impressum of a psychotherapy practice must include:
- Your name and the practice address (no PO box)
- Telephone and email address so people can contact you quickly
- Supervisory authority: with a Kassensitz, the responsible Kassenärztliche Vereinigung
- The Landespsychotherapeutenkammer you belong to, with a link
- The statutory professional title and “verliehen in: Bundesrepublik Deutschland” (awarded in: Federal Republic of Germany)
- Your chamber’s Berufsordnung and where it can be accessed (link)
- VAT ID (USt-IdNr.) only if you have one, as psychotherapy is usually exempt from VAT; your tax number does not belong in the Impressum
- For a Berufsausübungsgemeinschaft (joint practice) or an MVZ GmbH (medical care centre run as a limited company): legal form, authorised representatives and register entry
| Approbation (licence) | Professional title | Chamber / authority | Professional law |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under the PsychThG 2020 | “Psychotherapeutin” / “Psychotherapeut” (§ 1 PsychThG) | Landespsychotherapeutenkammer; with a Kassensitz also the KV | The state chamber’s Berufsordnung, PsychThG |
| Psychological psychotherapist (old law) | “Psychologische Psychotherapeutin” / “Psychologischer Psychotherapeut” (§ 26 PsychThG) | Landespsychotherapeutenkammer; KV if applicable | The state chamber’s Berufsordnung, PsychThG |
| Child and adolescent psychotherapist (old law) | “Kinder- und Jugendlichenpsychotherapeutin” / “-psychotherapeut” | Landespsychotherapeutenkammer; KV if applicable | The state chamber’s Berufsordnung, PsychThG |
Professional title: Under § 2 of the model professional code, you may add the therapeutic approach from your training, for example “Psychologische Psychotherapeutin (Verhaltenstherapie)” (psychological psychotherapist, behaviour therapy), and use recognised designations from your chamber’s further training. Areas of focus are allowed if you work in that area on a sustained basis and label them as “Tätigkeitsschwerpunkt” (area of focus). But the first thing in your Impressum is the statutory title from your Approbationsurkunde (licence certificate).
Chamber and Berufsordnung: Every federal state has its own chamber of psychotherapists; Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia share the Ostdeutsche Psychotherapeutenkammer (East German Chamber of Psychotherapists) based in Leipzig. Link directly to the Berufsordnung on your chamber’s website, not to the federal chamber’s model code: the version that applies is your state’s.
Supervisory authority: With a Kassensitz, you are supervised by your Kassenärztliche Vereinigung, so it belongs in the Impressum. For a purely private practice, opinions differ on whether the Approbationsbehörde (licensing authority) has to be named as the supervisory authority; stating it does no harm. If in doubt, ask your chamber.
Your practice's legal notice in two minutes
The free legal notice generator knows every Psychotherapeutenkammer and Kassenärztliche Vereinigung. It puts together the chamber, professional title, Berufsordnung, KV and dispute resolution notice for your practice and delivers text or HTML. Your data stays in your browser.
Further mandatory details: liability insurance, blog and dispute resolution
- Professional liability insurance: Under § 4 Abs. 2 of the model professional code, you must be adequately insured against liability claims. However, the disclosure duty of the DL-InfoV (Service Providers Information Regulation: insurer, address, territorial scope) does not apply to health services, so not to your psychotherapy. If you also offer other services, such as team supervision, coaching or workshops, it may apply. If you name the insurance, do so in full.
- Blog (§ 18 Abs. 2 MStV): If you write journalistic-editorial articles, for example on anxiety, grief or sleep, the Medienstaatsvertrag (Interstate Media Treaty) requires you to name a responsible person with name and address.
- Consumer dispute resolution (§ 36 VSBG): Anyone who runs a website states whether they take part in proceedings before a consumer arbitration board. Practices with ten or fewer employees on 31 December of the previous year are exempt from this duty; a short sentence (“We do not take part”) does no harm.
- ODR platform: The EU platform for online dispute resolution was shut down on 20 July 2025. Remove the old link; a dead link looks careless.
Professional secrecy under § 203 StGB and online tools
As members of a health profession with state-regulated training, psychotherapists are among the professional secrecy holders under § 203 Abs. 1 Nr. 1 StGB (Criminal Code). Since 2017, § 203 Abs. 3 StGB has allowed secrets to be disclosed to external service providers where this is necessary for their service, such as hosting providers, IT support or a video service. The flip side: under § 203 Abs. 4, you commit an offence if you have not bound such providers to secrecy and they disclose something. The model professional code requires this commitment to be recorded in writing (§ 8 Abs. 5).
List your service providers
List every service that could see patient data: website hosting, form service, email inbox, online calendar, video tool, practice software, IT support.
Sign contracts
A data processing agreement under Art. 28 GDPR with every service, and a written confidentiality commitment under § 203 StGB. Many providers for health professions offer both as templates.
Check your video tool
For video sessions with patients in statutory health insurance, a video service provider certified under Anlage 31b BMV-Ä (Annex 31b of the federal framework contract) is required; the KBV (National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians) keeps the list. For private patients, it is a good benchmark.
Limit contact channels
Keep the form to name, contact details and preferred time; no therapy content via unencrypted email or private messengers.
Be transparent
Name every service in your privacy policy, with purpose, legal basis, storage location and storage period.
Under the model professional code (§ 5a), psychotherapy by video is permitted if direct personal contact is not required, initial diagnostics and the decision on indication do not take place exclusively by video, and the same psychotherapist also carries out the treatment in person. An initial consultation by video is possible. Billing limits for statutory health insurance (GKV) are set by the KBV and the KV; on your website, it is enough to say that video sessions are possible by arrangement.
Privacy policy, cookies and forms
Information about mental health is health data under Art. 9 GDPR. For treatment, Art. 9 Abs. 2 lit. h GDPR and § 22 BDSG (Federal Data Protection Act) allow processing by professional secrecy holders, but for your website this only applies insofar as it genuinely serves treatment. The privacy policy under Art. 13 GDPR must match your website exactly. Under § 38 BDSG, you need a data protection officer if, as a rule, at least 20 people are permanently involved in the automated processing of personal data; a solo practice is usually below that.
How to get it right
- A cookieless, data-minimising analytics tool that needs no banner
- Host fonts locally, load maps only after a click
- A note in the form: “Please don’t describe your symptoms here yet”
- Neutral appointment types in the online calendar (“Initial consultation”)
Better not
- Ad tracking or the Meta Pixel on a psychotherapy website
- Mandatory fields for diagnosis, symptoms or health insurer before first contact
- Pre-assessment questionnaires via an unprotected form
- Patient testimonials: they confirm who is in treatment with you
For cookies and similar technologies, § 25 TDDDG (Telecommunications Digital Services Data Protection Act) applies: storing or reading information on the device only with consent, unless it is strictly necessary for the service explicitly requested. The fewer third-party services your website loads, the shorter your banner and privacy policy. What advertising is allowed under professional law is covered in the post Advertising rules for psychotherapists in Germany.
Accessibility Strengthening Act (BFSG)
The BFSG (Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz, Accessibility Strengthening Act) has applied since 28 June 2025. It covers e-commerce services for consumers, for example online booking that concludes a contract. Microenterprises providing 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. That applies to most practices. An accessible website still makes sense: people in a crisis in particular need clear language, good contrast and a site that also works with a keyboard or screen reader.
Checklist for your website
- Impressum with name, address, telephone, email, one click away from every page
- Landespsychotherapeutenkammer, statutory professional title, “awarded in Germany”, link to the Berufsordnung
- With a Kassensitz: Kassenärztliche Vereinigung as supervisory authority
- Professional liability insurance: in place; details complete if you name it or offer services outside medical treatment
- Responsible person under § 18 Abs. 2 MStV if you blog
- Statement under § 36 VSBG checked, ODR link removed
- Confidentiality commitment and data processing agreement with all IT service providers
- Privacy policy matching your form, calendar and video tool; cookies only with consent
What else belongs on your website is covered in the post What belongs on a practice website; the path to your own practice is described in Opening a psychotherapy practice. Doctors will find the mandatory details in the post Impressum for a medical practice, physiotherapists under Impressum for a physiotherapy practice.
A website that builds trust
We build websites for psychotherapy practices: calm in design, with a complete Impressum, data-minimising forms and no tracking that gives your patients away.
Sources
- Gesetze im Internet – § 5 DDG
- Gesetze im Internet – § 1 PsychThG (professional title)
- Gesetze im Internet – § 26 PsychThG (licence under the old law)
- BPtK – Muster-Berufsordnung (model professional code, §§ 2, 4, 5a, 8, 23)
- Gesetze im Internet – § 203 StGB
- Gesetze im Internet – § 1 DL-InfoV (scope)
- Bayern.Recht – § 18 Medienstaatsvertrag
- Gesetze im Internet – § 36 VSBG
- EUR-Lex – Regulation (EU) 2024/3228 (repeal of the ODR Regulation)
- Gesetze im Internet – § 25 TDDDG
- Gesetze im Internet – § 38 BDSG
- Gesetze im Internet – § 3 BFSG
- KBV – Videosprechstunde (video consultation)
