Why can’t the Psych Bill be like Medicine and license “general practitioners”?
There is no “general practice” in psychology. In the Philippine and in other countries, there is no clearly defined set of professional services that ALL psychologists can provide. In international forums that seek to define the common core functions and competencies of psychologists, the only common competencies agreed upon relate to the general knowledge and use of psychological theories to understand human behavior, and the ability to apply such knowledge in various domains. There is also no acknowledgement that such general functions actually pose possible harm or threats to any particular sector of the public. In the absence of a clear definition of the competencies and functions of a general practitioner in psychology, and in the absence of any apparent threat posed by vague statements of competencies and functions, it does not make sense to license psychologists as general practitioners.
