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Anyone know anything about relationship counselling in Germany?

6 replies

CakeBump · 10/07/2012 09:14

Hi, I hope someone out there can help....

I am living with DH near Cologne. We have on the whole a good relationship but with one or two issues that seem to come up time and again. As we are expecting DC1 in December we would like to go to a relationship counsellor similar to Relate in the UK, to make sure that our relationship is as solid as it can be before baby arrives.

Does anyone know where I start to find someone? DH is German but fluent English. I'm English but speak good German, although it would help a lot if the counsellor had a bit of English!

Does anyone have an organisation name/number for me please?

Thank you.

OP posts:
outnumberedbymen · 10/07/2012 11:12

Hi cakebump,
Not sure of how much help I am but my mum was a 'psychotherapeutin' who specialised in 'lebens- Und konfliktberatung' I know she was counselling quite a few couples. I also know that a lot of people called her for appointments after being recommended by their GP. Would your Hausarzt be able to point you in the right direction of suitable therapists?

I don't know what it's like where you live, but there can be a very long waiting list for psychotherapists. Good luck!

CakeBump · 10/07/2012 12:06

thanks very much outnumbered, I'll have a google and if nothing comes up head to the GP.

Cheers (or should that be Prost?)

OP posts:
DarrowbyEightFive · 10/07/2012 12:28

Hi cakebump, you would find someone by Googling something like Paarberatung or Partnerberatung, or as outnumbered says, Lebensberatung. In most cases for couples therapy you would pay privately, and it could be up to 100 euros per session. There is provision in Germany for psychiatric therapy to be paid by your Krankenkasse, but I don't think that would apply for couples counselling. However, it might be worth phoning your Krankenkasse to see if they have a list of approved therapists - I did so recently for yoga teachers here in Berlin.

Things you need to watch out for: firstly many of the organisations offering counseling are religious - either the evangelische Kirche or the katholische Kirche, and their advice is likely to be swayed by the religious affiliation (which might not be a problem for you personally). Secondly, there's a real trend for alternative therapists (Heilpraktiker) to offer these sessions, and they're hardly qualified psychotherapists, are they?

This site has a number of addresses, and at least some of these will be able to provide you with a list of private counselors:

www.stadt-koeln.de/2/familie/rat-hilfe/01725/

This is an example of a private counselor:

www.paarberatungkoeln.de/

In a city as large as Cologne you are bound to find either a native English-speaking therapist or someone who speaks excellent English. This is one I found on the Net:

tanyawallmorris.de/services/paartherapie/

I have no experience of what things are like in Cologne, but you could try putting a question on Toytown in the local Cologne section, under Family Life, and see if anybody has personal experience of any of these providers. In any case, you need to check qualifications.

Best of luck with it all!

CakeBump · 10/07/2012 14:36

Thanks Darrowby, that's fantastic. I'll definitely look into those links further.

OP posts:
CakeBump · 10/07/2012 16:05

Got an appointment with Tanya Wall Morris, thanks so much.

Love the power of Mumsnet! :)

OP posts:
outnumberedbymen · 10/07/2012 18:22

fantastic :)

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