The Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) has recently issued a new circular aimed at students interested in pursuing psychology.
This government body, responsible for regulating services for individuals with disabilities, has announced a set of regulations for the BSc Clinical Psychology (Honours) program.
The aim is to address the shortage of trained professionals in mental health care, particularly for minor illnesses that can have long-term impacts
"Increasing mental health institutes and specialists workforce, though has met the needs of those with acute and severe mental illness (4.5% of the total mental morbidity), the available trained professionals are insufficient to meet the high demands of mental health care of minor illnesses which account for 83% of the total mental morbidity that tend to last chronically and sometimes whole life with a significant disability and dysfunctions", the notice informs, stating the reason behind the regulations.
However, social media user awkwardgoat3 has expressed concerns about the new regulations. According to Divija Bhasin, who is a counseling psychologist shared a few points from the notice that she belives are problematic:
1.) Only students who have pursued Science in their Class XII or an equivalent degree can pursue this course now. According to her, one needs to be aware of factors like socio-economic and political history too.
2) Placing the number of maximum seats at 30 per institute might not provide the solution to the problem of dearth of certified psychologists in the country.
3) No clarity has been given by the council with regard to the current psychologists or how they can procure a license with the change in the norms. According to her, the degrees of MA graduates with training and experience may be rendered void, further reducing the number of therapists.
4) Furthermore, there has been no clear delineation between a counselling psychologist and a clinical psychologist and no norms laid for the former.
5) Now with just a 4-year bachelor's degree, you can practice as a therapist, whereas previously a BA + MA in psych was required.
