Therapy for Children and Adolescents

One of the most important developments in historical psychology was the insight that a child is not simply a small person, but goes through certain important and specific developmental phases in the course of growing up. The contributions of Jean Piaget (1896-1980), Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) and Maria Montessori (1870-1952) are particularly important.

On the basis of this important research, special treatment approaches for working with disturbed or traumatised children were developed. This is a very comprehensive area which cannot be adequately described here.

Due to the special features of this field of work, it is only logical that a specialized education and special experience with children are required for working with children. Therefore, at the same time as the profession of psychological psychotherapist, the profession of child and adolescent psychotherapist was created and legally embedded in the Psychotherapist Act.

Now there is a clear distinction between the psychological psychotherapist (PP) and the child and adolescent psychotherapist (KJP): The PP treats adults from the age of eighteen and the KJP treats children from infancy to - in some cases - the 21st year of life.

Psychotherapists for children and adolescents are also trained in the two most important procedures of cognitive behavioral therapy and deep psychological therapy. In real practice, this is no relevant difference for parents or young people seeking help.

However, a child and adolescent therapist (KJP) will always treat the child in close cooperation parents or caretakers. However, he never treats the adult themself, but only in regards to the interaction with the child or young person. This means that conversations with parents and sometimes with the whole family are always part of the therapy. Sometimes the family itself can also be the subject of therapy (family therapy).

Forms of Therapy

There are special diagnostic procedures and special therapeutic approaches (e.g. play therapy) for working with children and young people. These vary greatly depending on the disorder or problem. Here, too, there are different approaches that draw their theoretical background from psychoanalysis or cognitive behavioural therapy.

Cost Coverage

Cost coverage for children and adolescents is the same as for adults:

Cost coverage through public health insurance is only available for therapists who are licensed child and adolescent therapists.
Some therapists may have double qualifications for children's and adult therapy.

Special Features of our Databank

There are psychological psychotherapists who have received training for working with children or young people.

Some of the therapists in this databank are qualified to treat children and teenagers, but are not liscensed to receive cost coverage through public health insurance. These therapists must be paid by private insurance or out of own funds.