Development and current status of counselling psychology in Taiwan

Abstract

This article details the three stages of counselling psychology’s development in Taiwan, including pre-legislation, legislation and post-legislation. In pre-legislation stage, a brief historical review of the growth of counselling and guidance is introduced, which is the root of the contemporary counselling psychology. The process of the Psychology Act’s legislation is described in legislation stage and the relationships between counselling teachers and clinical psychologist are also discussed. In the post-legislation stage, the licensure system, training programmes, main professional organizations, work settings, and the major opportunities and challenges for the counselling psychology field are presented. In addition, the article refers to data from a national survey of 124 counselling psychologists to provide a profile of the counselling psychologists in Taiwan.

Keywords:

• counselling psychology
• counselling and guidance
• licensure
• national survey
• Taiwan study

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. The Student Guidance and Counselling Act was promulgated on 12 November 2014.

2. Group members are comprised of member organizations, such as schools, counselling centres, university departments, associations and other organizations related to the specialty.

3. The psychotherapies conducted by medial doctors and clinical psychologists in hospital or medical settings are covered by the National Health Insurance.