Why is couple therapy Berlin expensive? ​​​​​

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Therapies can vary greatly in quality. Good therapy is not

“assembly line work” and goes far beyond giving general advice.

Good therapy requires, among other things, emotional presence

and involvement on the part of the therapist.

At Couples Therapy Berlin, we always ensure that we can be fully

present with both our heart and our mind during sessions. And our time commitment to you also goes far beyond the session time. On the other hand, this naturally means that we cannot offer inexpensive therapy sessions. Good therapy cannot be cheap.

At Couples Therapy Berlin, we only want to work with couples if both partners consider their relationship to be a precious asset that they truely want to invest in. We also consider your relationship to be a very precious asset and therefore invest a lot of time, professional care, and our trained expertise in you.

We minimize financial costs by ensuring effectiveness through our engagement, which would never be achievable through “assembly line work.” In addition, we terminate therapy processes when it becomes clear that the conditions for therapeutic success are not or no longer met (so that couples do not invest their time, money, and effort into something that has no realistic chance of success). If you are interested, below you will find a comparison of the usual costs of an unhappy relationship on the one hand and the achievable benefits of couples therapy on the other. It is, of course, tragic that many people cannot afford good couples therapy. For this reason, we are constantly looking for ways to at least make valuable and potentially transformative relationship knowledge accessible to couples. If couples show real commitment beyond the sessions, we also offer reduced fees. Unfortunately, however, our quota for this is limited and is usually exhausted well in advance.

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Specific numbers

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First session couples therapy: 150 minutes - 300 EUR

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Couple therapy session as Heilbehandlung*: 100 minutes - 300 EUR (exempt of VAT)

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Couple therapy session as "Wellnessbehandlung*": 100 minutes - 357 EUR (includes 19% VAT)

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Individual therapy session: 100 minutes - 200 EUR

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*If couples therapy is not aimed at the treatment or prevention of a psychological disorder (like for example an adjustment disorder or depression), then treatment does not clearly fall under § 4 Nr. 14 Buchst. a UStG and therefore in this case 19 % VAT will be added to the fee. However, because relationship quality has a big impact on psychological health (as demonstrated by a large body of scientific research), psychotherapeutic or psycho-preventative interventions are indicated in almost all cases of relationship distress. In general, Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy because of its methodology and its effects clearly is a form of psychotherapy (in contrast to counselling). 

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Most couples that start therapy with at couples therapy Berlin are on a good path with each other after 1 to 10 sessions. Experience has shown: If 10 sessions don’t help, then more than 10 sessions won’t help much either. Because then partners are not (or no longer) compatible enough. But even when couples therapy ends with this recognition, usually both partners have nevertheless benefited from the therapy process: Through therapy partners will have gained more understanding for each other and this will allow separating with lower levels of anger and animosity (and that can actually safe a lot of money). And partners will have learned things during the therapy process that will help them in future relationships. But, again, more often than not couples are on a good path towards growing love and satisfaction after only 10 sessions or less. And if we do have the impression that we won’t be able to help you enough at Couples Therapy Berlin, we will communicate this impression early on in the therapy process (sometimes even before our first session).

 

​Investments and things to win and loose

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Losses that can be prevented through couple therapy:

• Emotional suffering and loss of psychological health and sense of meaning for everyone involved (partners and children)

• Financial costs associated with a separation that often turn out to be devastating

 

What a couple therapy can help you win:

• Love, satisfaction, vitality, intact dreams, family cohesion, a sense of meaning in life, emotional health of everyone involved​

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Reduced fees

 

Because we at couples therapy Berlin believe that love and psychological health are everyone’s birthrights, we would love to make couple therapy feasible for everyone. We therefore offer reduced fees. But the sad truth is that our contingent for reduced feels is usually exhausted – and often for a long time into the future (waiting list). Couples therapy Berlin is also working on creating a YouTube channel to be able to offer help to couples who cannot afford sessions.  ​

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Detailed information on couples therapy and VAT: 
Under certain conditions, couples therapy in Germany is exempt from VAT in accordance § 4 Nr. 14 Buchst. a UStG. These conditions are: Couples therapy is carried out by a doctor, psychotherapist, or Heilpraktiker für Psychotherapie and is indicated as a therapeutic treatment according to the diagnostic assessment of the treating professional. Couples therapy is indicated as a therapeutic treatment if it is necessary for the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, or cure of a specific mental disorder according to ICD-10 or ICD-11, either because relationship problems play a decisive role in the development or maintenance of this disorder, or because the involvement of the partner in the therapy is crucial for treatment success. Unfortunately, I can only assess whether there is an indication for couples therapy as a "Heilbehandlung" (curative treatment) after the initial session. However, I never charge more than EUR 300 for the initial session, even if it turns out that couples therapy is not indicated for the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, or cure of a psychiatric disorder. Approximately 90% of the couples who contact me have a clear indication for couples therapy as a curative treatment, so in most cases couples therapy sessions will be VAT exempt. If therapeutic measures such as couples therapy or psychotherapy are not indicated as curative treatment, they are classified as "wellness treatment" by the German Fianazamt and are therefore subject to 19% VAT. If couples therapy is performed as a curative treatment, then an ICD diagnosis must also be included on the invoice.