Why I am not a Heilpraktiker or psychotherapist

… and do not wish to be one.

German law is quoted below in the original; the English renderings are mine and are not official translations. A Heilpraktiker is a state-licensed non-physician health practitioner, a status with no direct equivalent outside Germany.

In Germany the Heilpraktikergesetz (Act on Non-Physician Health Practitioners) applies:

§1 HeilprG (1) Wer die Heilkunde, ohne als Arzt bestallt zu sein, ausüben will, bedarf dazu der Erlaubnis. (2) Ausübung der Heilkunde im Sinne dieses Gesetzes ist jede berufs- oder gewerbsmäßig vorgenommene Tätigkeit zur Feststellung, Heilung oder Linderung von Krankheiten, Leiden oder Körperschäden bei Menschen, auch wenn sie im Dienste von anderen ausgeübt wird.

§1 HeilprG: “(1) Anyone wishing to practice medicine without being licensed as a physician requires a permit to do so. (2) The practice of medicine within the meaning of this Act is any activity carried out professionally or commercially for the purpose of diagnosing, curing or alleviating illnesses, ailments or bodily harm in human beings, even where it is performed in another’s employ.”

And the Act on the Profession of Psychotherapist:

§1 PsychThG (1) Wer die Psychotherapie unter der Berufsbezeichnung „Psychotherapeutin“ oder „Psychotherapeut“ ausüben will, bedarf der Approbation als „Psychotherapeutin“ oder „Psychotherapeut“. […] (2) Ausübung der Psychotherapie im Sinne dieses Gesetzes ist jede mittels wissenschaftlich geprüfter und anerkannter psychotherapeutischer Verfahren oder Methoden berufs- oder geschäftsmäßig vorgenommene Tätigkeit zur Feststellung, Heilung oder Linderung von Störungen mit Krankheitswert, bei denen Psychotherapie indiziert ist. […] Tätigkeiten, die nur die Aufarbeitung oder Überwindung sozialer Konflikte oder sonstige Zwecke außerhalb der Heilkunde zum Gegenstand haben, gehören nicht zur Ausübung der Psychotherapie.

§1 PsychThG: “(1) Anyone wishing to practice psychotherapy under the professional title of ‘psychotherapist’ requires a license to practice as a ‘psychotherapist’. […] (2) The practice of psychotherapy within the meaning of this Act is any activity carried out professionally or on a regular basis by means of scientifically tested and recognized psychotherapeutic procedures or methods for the purpose of diagnosing, curing or alleviating disorders of a pathological nature for which psychotherapy is indicated. […] Activities whose sole object is working through or overcoming social conflicts, or other purposes outside the practice of medicine, fall outside the practice of psychotherapy.”

I do not diagnose or treat illnesses or ‘disorders’. And I mean that. What matters to me is accompanying people through difficult and stressful phases of life, and taking their self-efficacy seriously. Simply as a fellow human being.

I wish for a society in which we all regain the capacities and skills to accompany one another in difficult and stressful situations (and afterwards). Person to person. Not “therapist” to “patient”. A society in which what I do, what I offer, becomes ordinary: loving, caring, mindful attention, open ears and an open heart for the life story of the person opposite me; slowing down from the pace of everyday life; forms of support that feel right, including touch. *

In doing so I honor and respect the boundaries and the protective function of the law. Physicians, psychotherapists and Heilpraktiker have their rightful place. In my work I “help myself” to the “expert knowledge” of these and other fields, in the hope of being of service to the person in front of me. I hope, and want to contribute to, that this ’expert knowledge’ becomes ‘common knowledge’. Speaking about trauma, and about what helps in dealing with it mindfully, is not “dangerous”; it should be part of the basic knowledge of human coexistence. All of us, and everyone we meet, carry injuries within us that shape our actions and our being. **

My accompaniment is not a substitute for medical or psychotherapeutic treatment. If I sense that such treatment would be helpful, I say so openly.

Even among professionals I encounter the view that one ‘shouldn’t’ raise certain topics in a coaching context. That the rooms of one’s own childhood, the rooms of one’s wounds, should not be entered. I consider that wrong. It’s true that proceeding carelessly can cause further injuries. Injuries that we already inflict on one another every day, because we have unlearned how to respect the boundaries of the other person (and our own). Because we have unlearned ‘how it is done’ — offering comfort, offering support. Simply being there. Without believing that we have to “protect” ourselves and those around us from “intense feelings”. Those are the places where injuries arise: where we shrink back in fear from going with the other person where they need to go.

Not as an “empty vessel”, but as myself. As the Moritz I happen to be right now. That, no more and no less, is what I offer. I let myself be touched by you and your life. And, if you wish (and only then), I will touch you.

The Craniosacral Verband Deutschland (CSVD, the German craniosacral association) requires training in a medical or health-care profession — such as a Heilpraktiker license — for recognition as a “practitioner”. For the biodynamic application of cranio I do not find that coherent: I do not see myself as a “healer”, and I do not treat illnesses. Without that qualification one can only be a “student member”. That suits me: I am and will remain a student for life. And my clients are my best teachers.

‘One thing you have to get over is the idea of relating to problems. Just like when we said the body isn’t the point, it’s also the case that disease is not the point. If you relate to problems, or you think about things in terms of problems, then all you’ve got are problems. All you have is one effect on top of another effect. You never get to the cause. So forget about problems.’ (Dr. Rollin Becker, osteopathic craniosacral therapist)

Systemic Charter of Human Rights (German original):

Art. 1 — Every person has the right to their own way of dealing with meaning.
Art. 2 — Every person has the right to their own history.
Art. 3 — Every person has the right to a positive self-presentation.
Art. 4 — Every person has the right to observe their environment and themselves in their own way.
Art. 5 — Every person has the right to place their problems in the context to which they belong.
Art. 6 — Every person has the right to express their concerns to others.
Art. 7 — Every person has the right to respond to the need to learn at their own pace.
Art. 8 — Every person has the right to respect for their reactions to harrowing experiences.
Art. 9 — Every person has the right to have their resources and potential acknowledged.
Art. 10 — Every person has the right to develop the capacities for a life led as self-determinedly as possible.

Code of ethics of the Craniosacral Verband Deutschland (CSVD) (in German)

InnerEthics® - Ethics of Caring

Landesrecht BW - 1 K 3156/24 | Administrative Court of Freiburg (Breisgau), 1st Chamber | 15 October 2025 | Judgment on the application of craniosacral therapy (German original), headnotes:

1. Medical activities that entail no appreciable risks to health do not fall under the permit requirement of the Heilpraktikergesetz.
2. In assessing criminal liability under § 5 HeilprG where craniosacral therapy is practiced, what matters is not an abstract concept of that therapy but the specific act: the activity actually carried out by the practitioner concerned.
3. Craniosacral therapy can be practiced in such a way that it entails no appreciable risks to health (affirmed here).
4. The craniosacral therapy applied here is not comparable to therapy according to the Synergetik method, which is regarded as treatment requiring a permit.
5. There are constitutional doubts as to whether the provisions of the Heilpraktikergesetz are compatible with the German Constitution (in particular Art. 12(1) of the Basic Law) (left open here).