Bengaluru: Unqualified online psychotherapists thrive amid lax regulation

The lack of regulation of psychotherapy practices has led to a proliferation of therapists and counsellors in Bengaluru, many of whom have no qualifications from recognised institutions.

This may help the community, but may harm patients deliberately or not, say experts.

Hearing the recent case of an unqualified online therapist, the High Court too had asked the state government to come up with regulations to check the growth of pseudo-therapists.

But current laws have no provisions to regulate the majority of counsellors and therapists in the city.

There are three categories of practitioners, says Dr K Sekhar, former Nimhans professor and consultant to central government on mental health.

“First is licensed clinical psychologists who have learned both the theory and practice of therapy. Second are those with a masters degree in psychology or a diploma in counselling from a university, who would know theory, but not practice. So they should learn therapies over time by practising under a group of psychiatrists or clinical psychologists. Third are those who undergo brief unrecognised courses or workshops, and start practising as psychotherapists, which may not be right.”

The second and third categories remain completely unregulated.

Currently, only those who have an MPhil degree in clinical psychology are eligible to practise as clinical psychologists in India.

They are supposed to register with the Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) for this.

Recently, as per the Mental Health Act, 2017, the mental health authority of each state has to register establishments and professionals, but this too leaves out counsellors and other therapists, leaving the field wide open for anybody to start practice.

The Karnataka State Mental Health Authority (KSMHA) registers only psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, psychiatric social workers and psychiatric nurses.

“The Mental Health Act defines only these four categories of professionals, so we don’t register counsellors or other therapists,” says an official at KSMHA.

KSMHA also registers establishments that provide mental health services, but this is in the early stages.

Generally, establishments providing these services only register under the Shops and Establishments Act or the GST Act, says Dr P P Vipin, criminologist and Supreme Court lawyer.

“But under both these Acts, there is no monitoring of the activity happening in the establishments. Besides, many may offer therapy out of their apartment or online,” he says.

Vipin says there have been many cases recently of fraudulent therapy.

“There are cases of ‘therapists’ not keeping the patient’s information confidential, blackmailing or harassing them. But many of these cases get settled out of court because of the stigma attached to mental illness,” he adds.

The flip side of the lack of regulation is that genuine practitioners can’t get a licence and could become legally vulnerable, says Vipin.

“A friend of mine has a PG in counselling psychology and has been practising for 25 years. But she doesn’t give invoices to clients even now because legal issues may crop up.”

Dr Sekhar says the solution should be to define and limit each category of practitioners.

“Those in the third category can be lay counsellors who listen to the issues of people in their communities and link them to professionals. Multiple agencies including UGC will have to be involved to decide their curriculum, define their roles, etc.”