Speech therapy

Speech therapy deals with the prevention, diagnosis, counseling and therapy of disorders in the areas of voice, speech and language.

Speech therapists treat people with speech difficulties and the associated impairments. This helps those affected to understand each other better and break down barriers to communication.

Speech difficulties and associated impairments concern

  • language comprehension,
  • spoken and written language,
  • speaking,
  • oral functions,
  • swallowing,
  • breathing,
  • voice,
  • hearing,
  • perception.

The speech therapist will help you to maintain or regain certain skills or functions. Speech therapy also helps children to recognize certain disorders at an early stage and to counteract them. Depending on the disorder, different methods or forms of therapy are used.

You can get speech therapy, for example

" outpatient, i.e. in hospital or in an insurance facility,
" inpatient, i.e. during a stay in a rehabilitation center, spa or hospital,
" in a practice or as part of a home visit,
" in some federal states also in kindergartens and certain schools.

You can get a referral for speech therapy from a specialist in neurology, your family doctor or your dentist, for example. For children, therapy can also be prescribed by a specialist in pediatrics.

If you go to a speech therapist with a health insurance contract, the treatment costs you nothing. If you go to a speech therapist of your choice, you will have to pay for it yourself, but you will get some of the money back from your insurance. Check with your social insurance company.

You can find more information about speech therapy here:

Last update: August 7, 2025