English-speaking counsellor for women in Berlin

I offer online counselling in English for women living in Berlin. We meet by secure video, I work in a person-centred way, and each 50-minute session costs £45, charged in pounds. I am a trainee counsellor in the UK working under supervision, so this is not German psychotherapy and it isn't paid for by a Krankenkasse.

Why finding an English-speaking therapist in Berlin takes so long

Berlin is a city of newcomers. At the end of 2025 it had 833,213 residents without German citizenship, about 23% of the population, according to the statistics office for Berlin and Brandenburg. After Turkish citizens, the largest groups were Ukrainian and Indian. Some of them will, at some point, want to talk to someone about how life is going, in a language they don't have to translate their feelings into.

The German system is generous on paper. Statutory insurance pays for psychotherapy with licensed practitioners. The difficulty is getting in.

The usual route looks like this:

1. You contact a practice, or call 116117, to get an appointment for a "psychotherapeutische Sprechstunde", a first consultation. You don't need a referral for this.
2. If 116117 arranges it, the appointment should be no more than four weeks away, or two weeks for acute treatment.
3. After the consultation and some trial sessions, you need a free therapy place, and the insurer has to approve it.

Step three is where people get stuck. Using billing data from around 300,000 insured people, the Federal Chamber of Psychotherapists (BPtK) found an average wait of 142 days between the first consultation and the start of therapy, with more than one in ten starting only about a year later. Those figures date from 2019 and were published in 2022, so treat them as a guide. Narrow the search to someone who works in English and the list of practices gets shorter again. My guide on how to find a therapist abroad has practical questions to ask while you search.

It also helps to know what the titles mean. In Germany, "Psychotherapeutin" and "Psychotherapeut" are protected by law (§ 1 PsychThG). Only licensed psychological psychotherapists, doctors and child and adolescent psychotherapists may use them. You will also see other titles in Berlin, so it is fair to ask anyone what their training is and who regulates them. That includes me: I am a UK trainee counsellor, not a German psychotherapist, and I say so plainly.

Living in Berlin as a woman from abroad

Berlin is known for its freedom. It can also be a place where everyone seems busy, friendships take years, and the bureaucracy arrives in letters you need a translation app to read.

If you came with a partner, German law is more open than many people expect. Since the residence rules were reformed, anyone holding a residence title may work unless a law says otherwise (§ 4a of the Residence Act). The permission is often the easy part. Rebuilding a career, a reputation and a sense of being competent, in a new language, is slower, and it can quietly wear down how you see yourself. If that sounds familiar, I have written about it on the trailing spouse page.

Childcare is one place where Berlin is unusual. The Senate says care in a Kita or with a childminder is free for parents, apart from a meals contribution, once you have a Kita-Gutschein from your district Jugendamt. You can apply up to nine months ahead and should apply at least two months before you need the place. Free is not the same as easy, though. Finding a place, settling a toddler in, and doing it all without grandparents nearby can be exhausting in ways that are hard to explain to people back home. If you are pregnant or have a new baby, the free pregnancy and postnatal resources may help.

Other things women in Berlin sometimes carry:

• a family elsewhere who expects regular calls, visits and reassurance
• the feeling of living between two cultures and fully belonging to neither (identity and belonging)
• loneliness that sits underneath a full social calendar (expat loneliness, and a free loneliness test if you want to check in with yourself)

The free resources for expats and migrants collect more reading on these themes.

How online therapy in English works from Berlin

Sessions take place over secure video, in English. You need a private space, headphones if others are at home, and a stable connection. If you have never had counselling before, what to expect in your first counselling session walks through it.

Berlin is one hour ahead of the UK throughout the year. Germany and the UK both change their clocks on the last Sunday of March and of October, so the gap stays the same. A 6pm session for me is 7pm in Berlin. Please check the time zone on the booking page before you confirm.

The fee is £45 per session, charged in pounds, and there are a few lower-cost places for students, trainees and people on a low income. See fees for details, or go straight to booking.

You might want online counselling while you are on a waiting list for a local therapist. That can be a reasonable thing to do, as long as you are not in crisis and you are honest with both of us about what you are looking for.

Who I am: a UK trainee counsellor, not a German psychotherapist

My name is Michelle Fernando. I am a trainee person-centred counsellor, a BACP student member, and I work under regular clinical supervision. I am studying for an MSc in Counselling and Psychotherapy at Keele University and I see clients from the UK.

In person-centred counselling there is no syllabus. You bring what matters to you, and I try to understand it from the inside, without judging or rushing you. I have a particular interest in culture, migration and family duty, partly because I have studied and worked in both Sri Lanka and the UK. You can read more about my training.

I am not part of German healthcare, and I can't issue sick notes, referrals or anything your insurer would recognise.

When to look for local help in Berlin instead

Please don't use online counselling with me if you are in immediate danger, thinking seriously about ending your life, or need urgent care. Call 112, the Berliner Krisendienst, or one of the lines listed on this page. The help centres in Berlin page lists more local services, including the Berliner Krisendienst's walk-in offices, and the Germany helplines page covers national lines.

I also don't work with psychosis, eating disorders, specialist trauma treatment, addiction, couples or children. In those situations your Hausarzt, a psychiatric outpatient clinic or a licensed psychotherapist through 116117 is the right starting point.

For a wider view of options across the country, see the Germany overview, or read how online therapy for expats works in general.