Personal development courses are not a replacement for psychological counseling, and people who need help with mental health issues should seek professional services, the Taipei Department of Health said on Monday.
Chinese-speaking Belgian YouTuber Ceylan Le Compte (who goes by 錫蘭Ceylan online) last month posted a more than two-hour video titled “Exposing LGATs: The Dark Side of Personal Growth Seminars,” in which he shared his experience attending a large-group awareness training (LGAT) course and included remarks by other online influencers who attended similar seminars.
The video, which has been watched 4.9 million times, prompted the Taipei departments of health and education to review controversial LGAT courses.
Photo courtesy of the Taipei Department of Health
Department of Education official Lin Yueh-chang (林岳璋) said the department had been contacted many times regarding life-coaching courses or LGAT seminars, resulting in inspections of 16 facilities earlier this year, including 12 small offices that were not considered short-term cram schools under the Supplementary Education Act (補習及進修教育法).
As the other four facilities were not providing courses when the department inspected them, they were only asked to register with the city as required, he said.
It is difficult for officials to monitor what goes on in such seminars as they are often held at different locations and the organizers are not transparent about the content of the courses.
From 2023 to this year, the Taipei Department of Health has issued fines in seven cases that contravened the Psychologists Act (心理師法), which stipulates that advertisements made by a psychotherapy clinic or psychological counseling center should be limited to the clinical psychologist or counseling psychologist, the department said.
It transferred two cases to prosecutors because they allegedly contravened Article 42 of the act, which stipulates that only qualified clinical psychologists or counseling psychologists can provide psychological services, it said.
The people involved in those cases could face imprisonment of up to two years or a fine of NT$30,000 to NT$150,000, it added.
Yang Lan-ya (楊嵐雅), a consumer ombudsman at the Taipei Department of Legal Affairs, yesterday said that personal development lessons are not psychological counseling, and if people need mental health treatment, they should seek out a registered clinics with licensed psychologists.
Taiwan Counseling Psychologist Union deputy director Lin Shang-neng (林上能) said that psychological counseling uses professional and scientific methods, and involves developing trust with a client, to properly treat them.
LGAT seminars or life-coaching services are usually short-term crash courses that leverage emotional tension and seek rapid effectiveness, which can easily cause secondary harm to participants, he said.
Taipei Association of Clinical Psychologists executive council member Lu Chin-ning (呂嘉寧) said that whether personal-development courses are beneficial depends on the content, the professional background of the lecturers and the participants’ personal needs, but many such seminars claim to be based on psychology when they are not.
Licensed counseling services involve dialogue based on acceptance, equality and respect, and focus on confidentiality with an openness to refer a person to other healthcare resources should they need it, she said.
The health department said people who need psychological counseling should first check if the clinic is registered with the local health department and is licensed, and has standardized fees.
A licensed psychologist is required by law to display their professional license, it added.
People should select counseling facilities that provide privacy, rooms that are soundproof, bright and clean, and receipts for each counseling session as required, it said.
The facility or psychologist are required to keep records of their session, which must be retained for 10 years, it said.
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