Drug and Alcohol Rehab Centres in Berlin, Germany

Where does addiction help in Berlin begin?

Addiction help in Berlin begins at the regional addiction services, a network of local counseling centers for alcohol, medication and drugs plus low-threshold contact points. They are free for every resident, people can refer themselves without seeing a doctor first, and contact can stay anonymous for as long as the person wants.

The counseling centers talk through the situation, explain the options and refer on to outpatient or inpatient therapy. Relatives can use the same services, which is useful when a family member is the first to look for help. Walk-in rehab is listed at a few of the rehabs in Berlin.

What happens after counseling in Berlin?

After counseling in Berlin, a person who needs rehabilitation applies to the German Pension Insurance, the national pension body, with a doctor’s report. The counseling center supplies a social report on the person’s situation, and the pension body then decides on the application and assigns the facility where rehab takes place.

Rehab can run as an inpatient stay, as full-day outpatient care or as outpatient sessions alongside daily life. Rehab transfers, which move a person from one setting into another, and aftercare both appear at a few or some of the rehabs in Berlin.

Does health insurance cover detox in Berlin?

Statutory health insurance generally pays for addiction treatment for people insured in Berlin, while the German Pension Insurance pays for rehabilitation. Public health insurance is accepted at nearly all of the rehabs in the city, and state-funded detox is listed at some of them, mostly in hospital settings.

Hospital detox appears at some of the Berlin listings. People insured privately can check their own policy, since private insurance is accepted at only a few.

How much does a pension-funded stay in Berlin cost the person?

A pension-funded inpatient stay in Berlin costs the person a co-payment of no more than €10 a day, charged for at most 42 days in a calendar year and set according to income. The German Pension Insurance covers the rest, which makes the public route far cheaper than private care for those who qualify.

Qualifying usually means six months of compulsory pension contributions in the two years before the application. Lifetime civil servants follow a different route and check with their own insurer.

Who can use the public route in Berlin?

The free regional counseling services in Berlin are open to every resident, with no health insurance or diagnosis needed. Pension-funded rehab has stricter rules, so someone new to Berlin who has not paid into German pension insurance can ask a counseling center what applies before planning a stay.

Publicly funded care is listed at nearly all of the rehabs in Berlin, and foundation-funded care at some.

Rehab costs and levels of care in Berlin

Private rehab in Berlin has an estimated typical range of €8,900 to €23,700 a month for a residential stay and €5,300 to €16,600 a month for medical detox. Day treatment is estimated at €5,300 to €11,200 a month, and outpatient care at €1,100 to €3,600 a month.

Length of stay, room type and the therapies included decide where in the range a stay falls. Self-pay is listed at a few of the rehabs in Berlin, and residential treatment at a few as well.

What do the levels of care cost in Berlin?

The levels of care in Berlin range from outpatient sessions, estimated at €1,100 to €3,600 a month, up to residential stays at €8,900 to €23,700 a month. Medical detox and day treatment come in between, and the table shows each of the four levels listed by the city’s rehabs.

Can I get methadone or buprenorphine in Berlin?

Methadone and buprenorphine are each listed at some of the rehabs in Berlin, as part of medication-assisted treatment. In Germany, opioid substitution follows section 5 of the Narcotics Prescription Ordinance, and only doctors with an addiction medicine qualification may prescribe it, reporting each treatment to a national register.

The register is kept by the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices, Germany’s medicines regulator. State-funded methadone is listed at some of the city’s rehabs, which matters for anyone who cannot pay for substitution privately.

Which groups do rehabs in Berlin serve?

Rehabs in Berlin serve adults first: nearly all list men and women, and most offer outpatient care for both. A few list programs for teenagers, including teen medication-assisted treatment, and a few list support for trauma or post-traumatic stress alongside addiction.

Mental health treatment appears at most of the rehabs in Berlin, and family education and psychosocial rehabilitation at a few. Long-term programs are listed at a few.

Is treatment in Berlin confidential?

Treatment in Berlin falls under Germany’s professional secrecy rule, section 203 of the Criminal Code, which binds doctors, psychologists and counselors at publicly recognized counseling centers. Treatment records are also protected by the EU General Data Protection Regulation, and the regional counseling services can be used without giving a name.

Placement in a closed setting against a person’s will is tightly limited in Germany. It needs a court-appointed legal guardian and the guardianship court’s approval under section 1831 of the Civil Code, and only where mental illness or disability creates a serious risk to the person or blocks treatment they cannot see the need for.

Getting to Berlin for treatment

Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER), with international flights, lies 11.9 miles from central Berlin in a straight line, the measure used for every distance on this page. Germany is in the Schengen area, so visitors who need a visa can stay up to 90 days in any 180-day period on a short-stay visa.

A longer course of treatment comes under Germany’s national procedures. Rehab near major airports is listed in other cities too, and rehab is also listed in Austria, Sweden, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

What is the setting around Berlin like?

Berlin is a flat city of parks and lakes: the Weißensee lake lies 3.0 miles from the center, with the Schäfersee and Orankesee each 3.5 miles out. The Trümmerberg, a hill built from rubble, rises 2.4 miles away, and rehab near mountains is listed in other parts of Europe.

The nearest emergency department is 1.2 miles from the center, and at least 25 hospitals lie within 10 miles.

Who can I call about alcohol or drugs in Berlin?

The Sucht & Drogen Hotline, Germany’s national line for alcohol and drug questions, answers callers in Berlin on 01806 313031 every day from 8 a.m. to midnight, at €0.20 a call. Alcoholics Anonymous runs a national hotline from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and DigiSucht offers free online counseling.

For travel within the Schengen area, prescribed narcotic medication needs a certificate from the prescribing doctor under Article 75 of the Schengen Implementing Convention, one per medicine and valid for up to 30 days. Anyone bringing such medication from further afield can ask the Berlin clinic how prescriptions will be handled.

Rehab is also listed in France, Italy, Belgium, Ireland and Scotland, with more on the Europe page.