If someone needs psychotherapy and cannot find help
16.10.2024 17:32
The German Federal Government sees no need for action regarding the financing of advanced training in psychotherapy, thereby risking an undersupply of psychotherapeutic care for the population. The PsyFaKo and the PtW Forum Berlin are therefore organizing another demonstration to draw attention to this predicament.
A broad alliance, which also includes the German Association of Psychologists (BDP), will demonstrate in front of the German Bundestag on October 16 for the long overdue legal regulation.
Under the motto "Finance continuing education now!", psychotherapists, psychotherapy students, and representatives from professional associations, training institutions, and other interest groups will gather tomorrow in front of the Bundestag in Berlin to demand that the long-overdue legal regulation for financing the psychotherapy continuing education program, which was reformed in 2019 and has since come into effect, finally be implemented. This is to ensure that the population's access to psychotherapeutic care is guaranteed in the medium term.
At the rally, representatives from the Psychology Student Council Conference and the advocacy group for psychotherapists in training will appeal to politicians to finally take action. Further speeches are expected from the President of the Federal Chamber of Psychotherapists, Dr. Andrea Benecke; the President of the German Psychological Society, Prof. Dr. Eva-Lotta Brakemeier; Ariadne Sartorius from the Federal Executive Board of the Federal Association of Contract Psychotherapists; and Elodie Singer, spokesperson for the Federal Conference of Psychotherapists in Training. Members of Parliament Dirk Heidenblut (SPD), Katrin Vogler (The Left Party), and Alexander Föhr (CDU) have also confirmed their attendance.
Waiting times for people needing psychotherapy are already several weeks to months. If funding for the next generation of psychotherapists isn't secured soon, the situation will worsen. "Without funding for specialist psychotherapy training, there will be no new psychotherapists. And this is happening in times of crisis, when the need for psychotherapy is higher than ever and practicing colleagues are getting older," warns Dr. Johanna Thünker, Deputy Chair of the Association of Psychological Psychotherapists (VPP) within the German Association of Psychologists (BDP).
Following a hearing in the Petitions Committee in July 2023, the Bundestag, with the highest possible vote, called on the Federal Government to address the problem. The alliance had repeatedly drawn attention to the plight through numerous campaigns.
While the Healthcare Strengthening Act (GVSG) acknowledges the need for financing, it fails to provide a specific regulation. This makes the draft legislation significantly inadequate. The Federal Ministry of Health, however, continues to ignore the issue. The GVSG is currently going through the parliamentary process and will soon be presented to the Health Committee for a hearing. Now, the members of the alliance are once again joining forces to loudly and clearly demand a legal framework for financing. It is unacceptable that psychotherapists in training or people in need of psychotherapeutic help are simply left out in the cold.