O2: Reviewing the Opportunities and Threats to Psychology and Counseling in Iran

Perhaps before establishing the Psychology and Counseling Organization of Iran by the Parliament in 2003, the biggest threat to this discipline was the practice of unprofessional people. On this basis, the biggest opportunity for this discipline was establishing this organization by the parliament as the supreme legislative body in the country. On 14/11/2012 counseling centers regulation was introduced by the tenth government in executing the Act 43 of the Law, which was a big shock to the Organization, and the authority of issuing counseling certificates was assigned to State Welfare Organization and Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. Fortunately, with a lot of consultations and followings, this regulation was abolished and the duty of issuing counseling certificates and supervising counseling centers was exclusively assigned to the Psychology and Counseling Organization. This, in turn, can lead to a tremendous development and progress in the discipline. The other opportunity to the Organization is the declaration of health system policy by the Supreme Leader which has taken the society’s mental health indexes into account and demands the citizens’ mental, social, and spiritual health. The other opportunity to the Organization is the Supreme Leader’s attitude toward the Organization and psychology in general, and his expectations from the Organization aired in the central council meeting on 9/5/2011. In the current situation, all branches of psychology and counseling have committees and the improvement and growth of all branches have been planned. We are signing memorandum of understanding with all related bodies in the fields of psychology and counseling. Retraining all psychologists and counselors and updating their knowledge and skills is intended. Psychotherapy and counseling with a religious orientation is one of the priorities of the Organization. The biggest threat to psychology and counseling of the country is a decline in the quality of education in some universities, and the Organization intends to invalidate these low quality universities by a quality control evaluation and consolidate the discipline and psychologists’ position in the new health system program.