Forum: Counselling profession needs more recognition

Employees from a cleaning company taking a break after disinfecting a site. Silver Ribbon executive director Porsche Poh said some people have become highly anxious about catching the coronavirus.
Employees from a cleaning company taking a break after disinfecting a site. Silver Ribbon executive director Porsche Poh said some people have become highly anxious about catching the coronavirus. ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM

Given the Covid-19 situation, there seems to be a greater need for counsellors (Charities offer free online counselling to ease fear, anxiety about outbreak, Feb 27).

Yet the counselling profession does not get as much recognition as the social worker profession.

Trained counsellors have a difficult time finding a job with government ministries and agencies because they do not have a social work degree.

Key positions in the Ministry of Social and Family Development and even agencies like the National Council of Social Service and many family service centres are headed by social workers.

Yet in crisis situations such as the one we are in now, people need the help of counsellors. Even before the crisis, the number of cases of mental distress due to stress, anxiety and depression has been increasing nationally over the years.

How can these people get help, and get it within their budget? Are mental health professionals such as psychiatrists and psychologists getting overwhelmed?

Are people seeking help able to see their mental health specialists as often as they can, rather than when availability permits?

So, can the Government recognise and regulate the counselling profession, and grow its numbers, so as to broaden access to mental health treatment to help the public?

Frank Singam

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on February 29, 2020, with the headline Forum: Counselling profession needs more recognition. Subscribe