Austria

Country

• Approximately 8.4 million inhabitants, which corresponds to a population density of 100 persons per square kilometer
• Expenditure on health 2008: EUR 7.16 billion (3 % of the gross domestic product)
• The costs caused directly by mental and behavioral disorders amounted to EUR 2.46 billion.

Psychotherapy in the health care system

• Psychotherapy is defined as a form of treatment for mental and behavioral disorders classified by the International Classification of Diseases.
• Psychotherapeutic healthcare is fully financed by the statutory social insurance systems, covering the full range of inpatient care (hospitals, clinics) and semi-inpatient care (day centers).
• Outpatient care: The regulation of funding in psychotherapy is different in every federal state. The statuary social insurance is required by law to subsidize every counseling session with at least € 21.80. In some federal states, patients can also claim fully subsidized sessions. However, these sessions are limited and are therefore only awarded if available ("first come, first save" basis).
• 21 different well defined psychotherapeutic approaches are legally approved.

Psychotherapeutic Professionals

• The profession 'Psychotherapist' is regulated by law. Qualification includes a mainly theoretical and smaller practical part ("Propädeutikum") with a minimum of 765 hours and a school-specific practical and theoretical part ("Fachspezifikum") with a minimum of 550 hours in an approved psychotherapeutic approach.

Psychotherapy for Depression

• There is no special regulation or condition in the treatment of depression.

Desirable Changes to Health Policy

• The density of psychotherapeutic care differs across Austria. Most of psychotherapists work in Vienna or in bigger cities. All over Austria 7.78 psychotherapists cover 10.000 Inhabitants.

Author
Mag. Patricia Göttersdorfer, Clinical- and Health Psychologist, Psychotherapist, Berufsverband österreichischer Psychologen (BÖP)

The text above is an excerpt from the paper "Psychotherapy in Europe – Disease Management Strategies for Depression. National Concepts of Psychotherapeutic Care".

You can download the paper here.