Mental Health Counseling

Personal conflict situations

In case you are in need for professional help with personal/private/mental problems, please do not hesitate to contact the Psychosocial Counselling (PSB (Psychosoziale Beratung)), or the Psychotherapeutic Outpatient Clinic (in German: Psychotherapeutische Ambulanz für Studierende = PAS). It really shows true greatness when you seek for help.

In principle, there are only small differences between PSB and PAS. The PSB is an institution of the Studentenwerk, for students of all universities in Göttingen. The PAS is part of the Clinic of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy of the University Medical Center (UMG) and serves for Students of the University of Göttingen.

Both facilities are therefore suitable for you.

In terms of content, the PAS differs from the PSB only in the way that it is also possible to treat patients with medication, as medical doctors work in the outpatient clinic.
All employees of PSB & PAS, therapists and medial doctors, are obliged to secrecy. The information and data you share with them are handled confidentially and will not be forwarded to third parties. Counselling is also possible anonymously (on request).

  • Learning and work problems,
  • Excessive performance demands on yourself,
  • Examination and failure fears,
  • Overwhelmed feelings,
  • Difficulties in making decisions,
  • Disorientation and fear of the future,
  • Conflicts with parents or in a partnership,
  • Contact difficulties, self-esteem problems or feelings of loneliness,
  • Personal crises,
  • Addiction problems,
  • Depressions,
  • Fears,
  • Psychosomatic problems,
  • Workplace problems and
  • Problems in dealing with students in difficult situations.

  • acute study or life crises
  • work or learning disorders
  • phobias (i.e. exam nerves, social phobia)
  • depressive crises, states of exhaustion
  • other psychic or psychosomatic symptoms
  • family or relationship conflicts
  • difficulties in making contacts

Both institutions have Open Consultation Hours by telephone in which you can call and speak to a counsellor. Please visit the webpages for details about telephone consultation times. The PSB has usually on Wednesdays an open hour in English. A therapist of the PAS can be reached daily from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m..


For further contacts and information about the many different types of support please visit the very well researched webpage Mental Health Support at the Göttingen Campus!


Emergency contacts

  • Uniklinik - Psychiatrische Klinik
    Von-Siebold-Straße 5
    Tel.: 0551 - 39-66610 (24h/day)

  • Asklepios Specialist Clinical Centre
    Rosdorfer Weg 70
    37081 Göttingen
    Tel.: 0551 - 402-0

  • Women's Shelter
    Groner Straße 32/33
    37073 Göttingen
    Tel.: 0551 - 5211800

  • Crisis helpline (Telefonseelsorge Göttingen e.V.)
    Tel.: 0800 - 1110111


  • The Welcome Centre of the University of Göttingen can support you to find a therapist or medical specialist who speaks English or your foreign language. Please write an Email to the Welcome Centre and ask for the expert with the respective language you need. In all cases your primary contact should be your General Practitioner (GP)/family doctor (Hausarzt), so please get in contact with a GP early on. For more information on doctors in Göttingen, or how to find one, please check with the page of the Welcome Centre at Doctors in Göttingen.


    For doctoral students employed at a Max Planck Institute you can also contact the Consultation Service for Employees - EMAP (Employee & Manager Assistance Program).
    The Max Planck Society (MPS) is offering all employees an immediate consultation (German and English, if required Spanish, French, Dutch, Russian and Turkish). This is an external, absolute anonymous, free of charge service offered for MPS employees, scholarship holders and executives.
    Information about the contact details can be found only by MPS members here: Intranet MAX

    In case you are encountering mobbing or sex-related violence, please find more information under Discrimination.

    The team of Scholar Minds in Berlin has put together some resources on the mental health crisis in academia and information about personal actions and self-help tools. Maybe you want to have a look on their Resources webpage for more information.