Most family counselors unlicensed

Sixty-five percent of family counselors operate without a license, said Princess Sarah bint Musaad bin Abdul Aziz, chairperson of the Board of Directors of Mawada Charity.
The charity aims to reduce divorce and its effects on the population. The absence of a regulatory body to identify these family-counseling centers and supervise the work and content of the training programs is the main problem, she said.
Princess Sarah said there is no one to currently oversee the performance of family counselors.
A study conducted by Jamila Al-Amry, a researcher at the Department of Social Studies at King Saud University, found that the reality of family counseling in Saudi Arabia is subject to a great deal of chaos due mainly to the absence of a specific agency responsible for family counseling centers and their operations.
The study showed that the proportion of specialists in social work, sociology and psychology who practice at family counseling centers does not exceed half the total number of practitioners. This also applies to online family counseling. The study drew a great deal of attention, as it confirmed that practitioners do not specialize in the profession, nor do they have sufficient scientific knowledge or the required professional background.
According to Princess Sarah, the lack of consistency in the mechanisms of action in different institutions practicing family counseling is related to the lack of an overall frame of reference. This prevents the achievement of effective professional practices. There are also shortcomings in research aimed to ensure the effectiveness of professional practice, and a failure to hold meetings to discuss cases.
Fifty percent of family counseling practitioners do not hold meetings at the institutions where they work to develop therapeutic solutions for problems facing patients, she added. The majority of professional practices carried out by the practitioner are rather based on what he or she sees in the patient without a professional follow up about the patient’s performance.
The study called for the need to develop regulations for family counseling centers.
These should include the granting of licenses for family counselors themselves, rather than just licenses for the centers. The Ministry of Social Affairs should also, according to the study, withdraw licenses from all centers that do not have certifications for employees entitling them to work as counselors.
Nora Al-Qahtani, a family-counseling specialist, said some centers are suffering from great disorder, as many of them were developed without any organizational structure and operate without regulation.
She called on the Ministry of Social Affairs to follow up closely with these centers, particularly since they work with families and could provide the skills and knowledge they need to attain a high quality of family life. The role of such clinics is to contribute to the development of awareness and civilized behavior of individuals, families, and the community, she added, but most of those who practice the profession are not experts.