REGULATORY FRAMEWORK AND CONSUMER SAFEGUARDS FOR PSYCHOLOGY AND COUNSELLING SERVICES UNDER MANDATORY PSYCHOLOGIST REGISTRATION

NOTICE PAPER NO. 811

NOTICE OF QUESTION FOR ORAL ANSWER

FOR THE SITTING OF PARLIAMENT ON OR AFTER 07 MAY 2026

Name and Constituncy of Member of Parliament

Dr Charlene Chen

MP for Tampines GRC

Question No. 2110

To ask the Coordinating Minister for Social Policies and Minister for Health with the impending mandatory registration for psychologists, including the subdiscipline of counselling, what measures will be taken to prevent unregistered individuals and companies that hire them from offering counselling and therapy services which remain unregulated.

NOTICE PAPER NO. 809

NOTICE OF QUESTION FOR WRITTEN ANSWER

FOR THE SITTING OF PARLIAMENT ON 07 MAY 2026

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Dr Charlene Chen

MP for Tampines GRC

Question No. 1440

To ask the Coordinating Minister for Social Policies and Minister for Health with reference to the regulatory framework in the practice of psychology and the five psychological subdisciplines identified as involving higher-risk assessments and interventions, what specific clinical criteria or types of therapeutic interventions, such as trauma-informed care or grief counselling, will be used to classify a counselling service as ‘high-risk’ to warrant mandatory oversight in the private sector.

NOTICE PAPER NO. 810

NOTICE OF QUESTION FOR WRITTEN ANSWER

FOR THE SITTING OF PARLIAMENT ON OR AFTER 07 MAY 2026

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Dr Charlene Chen

MP for Tampines GRC

Question No. 1448

To ask the Coordinating Minister for Social Policies and Minister for Health in respect of the impending registration framework for psychologists, whether the Ministry will consider requiring all unregistered private practitioners offering mental health counselling services to explicitly state their status in all advertisements and service agreements in the interest of public safety and education.

Answer

1          Mr Speaker, my reply will also address written questions X and Y raised by the Member in today’s Order Paper.

2          The five psychological subdisciplines were selected through structured risk assessments conducted by expert panels of psychologists. These considered the magnitude and probability of harm to clients and patients arising from psychological services provided by clinical, clinical neuropsychology, counselling, educational and forensic psychologists.

3          Once implemented, the Allied Health Professions Act (“AHPA”) will protect registered job titles pertaining to the five subdisciplines and reserve their use for registered psychologists. Unregistered practitioners will not be permitted to use these titles in any context, including in advertisements and service agreements. MOH and partner Ministries will also work with the Singapore Psychological Society to raise public awareness of the registered psychological subdisciplines and their scopes of practice. A register of psychologists will be made publicly available. With this, other unregistered mental health practitioners do not need to explicitly state their status in their advertisements and service agreements.

4          The Allied Health Professions Council (“AHPC”) will oversee and enforce psychological practice under the AHPA and AHPC’s Code of Professional Conduct. Enforcement action will be taken against errant practitioners or those falsely claiming to be registered psychologists.