Department of psychology - AE 18

Neuropsychological psychotherapy (NPT) is specifically for patients with brain dysfunction due to injury or disease. In adults, strokes, traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis or Alzheimer's disease are common causes and can lead to cognitive, behavioral or emotional-affective disorders. In children and adolescents, prematurity, epilepsy, or genetic factors are common causes.

Neuropsychological psychotherapy was recognized in 2011 by the Joint Federal Committee for Psychotherapy as scientifically sound and billable under social law. Since 2013, outpatient neuropsychological therapy has been billable under statutory health insurance. Nevertheless, there is still a considerable shortage of care, especially in the outpatient sector - currently only just under 300 neuropsychologists are working in outpatient practice across Germany. One reason for this in the past was the long training periods: after training in psychological psychotherapy, additional training with inpatient work in neurology was required.

In the course of the reform of the medical licensing in 2020 and the reorganization of the psychotherapy degree program, NPT became an independent field of further training in psychotherapy. Subsequently, the committees of the Federal Chamber of Psychotherapists developed new further training rules. Future neuropsychologists will complete a psychotherapy master's degree and then, like the other psychotherapy fields (adults, children/adolescents), undergo five years of continuing education in order to practice independent medicine.

The above-mentioned innovations also have an impact on university teaching. In the master's programs, basic knowledge in NPT is taught, which is also part of the licensing examination. At some locations in Germany, a three-pillar teaching ambulance system is being established: psychotherapy for adults, psychotherapy for children/adolescents and neuropsychological psychotherapy. This offers psychotherapy students the opportunity to gain experience in the field of neuropsychological psychotherapy during their studies. Bielefeld is one of them!

For further reading...

Billino J, Hennig-Fast, K., & Exner, C. (2022). Neuropsychologische Psychotherapie an Universitäten. Zeitschrift für Neuropsychologie, https://doi.org/10.1024/1016-264X/a000349

Werheid K (2022). Die Neuordnung der psychotherapeutischen Weiterbildung: Status quo und Ausblick aus klinisch-neuropsychologischer Perspektive. Zeitschrift für Neuropsychologie, 33, 39-43. https://doi.org/10.1024/1016-264X/a000348

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