Alternative practitioners

The profession of alternative practitioner has existed in Germany for a very long time. They may have learned a therapeutic method, such as a psychotherapeutic one. For many years, there has been the alternative practitioner specifically for psychotherapy, who is only allowed to work psychotherapeutically, i.e. not also offer medicinal plants or massages. With all alternative practitioners, it is important to know that the job title per se says nothing about the quality of this person as a user of the “psychotherapy” method. The license as an alternative practitioner initially only confirms that they know the legal limits and are liable for actions that do not medically belong in their field of activity. However, if he or she can prove that a certain method is mastered, it may also be used. Alternative practitioners can bill some health insurance companies for certain services, but usually not psychotherapeutic ones.

The profession of alternative practitioner is very popular because, unlike that of a doctor, it is not bound to such narrow ideas of scientificity. I personally see that as an advantage. Not only in psychotherapy is our current, Western idea of the world, of biology, of life and the psyche not always sufficient to heal. In no way do I want to belittle the huge achievements that have been made since the Age of Enlightenment. But it is precisely the psyche that has been researched for thousands of years, especially in the ancient high cultures of Asia. Many of these old techniques and views now form the basis of some “modern” therapeutic methods. Alternative practitioners make an important contribution to the integration of these methods, which were often regarded as unscientific at the beginning.