Korean Journal of Psychology: General
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- P-ISSN1229-067X
- E-ISSN2734-1127
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ISSN : 1229-067X
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Vol.41 No.3
Abstract
One in four Koreans reported at least one mental health problem in their lifetime, and the suicide rate has been at the highest level among the OECD member countries for about two decades. Happiness and Social Integration indexes show lowest level in recent years. In this study, we analyzed the OECD’s recommendations for Korea’s mental health system(O’Connor, 2013) along with the mental health policies regarding mental health workers. Comparative analyses between Republic of Korea and other OECD member countries showed that Korean mental health system has not integrated psychological services for all citizens, lacking effective preventive measures for mental illness and death by suicide. As system focused mostly on severe mental illness characterized by high rate of hospitalization, it has also resulted in weak community-based mental health care system. Therefore, it has yet to introduce licensed psychologists in the system, which is in contrast to other highly-industrialized OECD countries where licensed psychologists have been working as essential mental health workforce to prevent mental illnesses, provide evidence-based psychological practices, such as assessment and psychotherapy to individuals with mild to moderate mental health problems, and collaborate with other mental health workers to provide community-based mental health services to a wide-spectrum of severity. In order to effectively provide psychological services that meet the needs of the Korean people living in a highly industrialized country with significant mental health problems, it is urgent that Korean government introduce licensed psychologists in the mental health system. With thousands of Korean Psychological Association certified psychologists requiring similar education and training as the OECD members, Korea will greatly gain from the regulation, which will contribute significantly to improve the mental health of Koreans as well as their quality of life and happiness.
Abstract
As national demands in mental health have sharply increased in modern society, importance of psychological services and their regulation for the public have surged. The Global Psychological Alliance has declared the role of psychologists for citizens' mental health in 2022. The majority of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries have legislated laws and regulations of psychologists for providing evidence-based and ethical psychological services, and protecting the public from unethical and harmful services by specifying core competencies of psychologists. However, there is no legal regulation of psychologists in South Korea. The current study reviewed the international standards of psychologists including Canada, United States of America (USA), United Kingdom (UK), Australia, and Japan. The required qualification standards for licensed psychologists in OECD countries were also summarized. Finally, we discussed the benefits of regulations and legislation of psychologists and the need of requiring core competencies for psychologists. It is concluded that international standards of psychologists should be implemented to enhance the public mental health and minimize harm.
Abstract
The aim of this study is to systematically analyze the status of psychological services such as legislation, qualification system, and provision of psychological services for public mental health, and to suggest future directions for psychological services to improve the national level of mental health. For this, 78 existing laws were found and analyzed using “psychology” and “psychological counseling” as key words on the Korean Law Information Center website. As a result, there was no distinct law solely discussing the psychological services. In particular, only the Improvement of Mental Health and the Support for Welfare Services for Mental Patients (in short, Mental Health Welfare Act) defines the qualifications and scope of work of mental health psychologists, one of the mental health specialists. However, this law has a limited scope of psychological services that could be offered and tends to be limited to those with mental illness. For licenses offered by governments for qualifications, there are mental health clinical psychologist, licensed by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and clinical psychologist licensed by the Human Resources Development Service of Korea, but the difference in quality of expertise between these two is remarkable. In addition, it is difficult for the general public to identify a reliable service provider because of prevalence of inappropriate licenses issued by unqualified private service providers. In terms of public psychological services, the health and welfare sector lacks a delivery system in comparison to the demand for psychological services, while psychological professionals are proactively employed by various other field such as Ministry of National Justice, Ministry of National Defense, and local governments. Therefore, it can be stated that an independent legislation specifying the provision of psychological services and establishment of a license for global-standard psychologist is necessary. This legislation is expected to contribute significantly to the expansion of community-based psychological services. In particular it will improve the public access to psychological services, thereby advancing the people's mental health and quality of life.
Abstract
The Psychologist Bill which the Korean Psychological Association has been trying to enact for the past several years, was proposed by 11 members of the National Assembly including Rep. Seo Jeong-suk on April 29, 2022. The Bill proposes that certified psychologists must obtain 1) a bachelor’s and master’s degree or 2) a master’s and doctorial degree by completing courses related to psychology prescribed by Ordinance of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, followed by completion of 3,000 hours of practical training for more than two years upon completion of master degree, or 1,000 hours for more than one year during doctorial degree in graduate school. Those who met the educational and practicum requirements must pass the national examination for psychologists. In this paper, as matters to be reflected in future enforcement ordinances and enforcement rules, standards for psychologist training course are presented in relation to 1) education certification, 2) training certification, and 3) other topics related to qualification management. Psychological services are not limited to just psychological counseling, but consist of more tasks. The Bill proposed all matters related to the education and training of psychologists in Korea as a profession that reveals the scientific principles of human behavior and contributes to the promotion of people's happiness based on psychological science.