Counselling in Hong Kong - A Brief Overview

According to the American Psychological Association, (APA), counselling is defined as "Professional assistance in coping with individual problems....." (APA), 2007. The first recorded instance of the term "counselling" appearing in print was in 1931 as a recognized profession (Jackson, 1999). Although helping relationships of a counselling type involving psychology were used in ancient Greece and Rome thousands of years ago.

It was only nearly 40 years after being termed a profession, that Hong Kong's first dedicated counselling service was established by the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups in 1969. A year later, St John's Cathedral started a counselling service catering to the English speaking population. In the years up until the present day, the counselling profession has gone from strength to strength and counselling services are now available in multiple languages, reflecting the territory's multi-cultural population.

It is of note that the first counselling service was set up to address youth, a need was obviously identified of this being a demographic worthy of attention within the Hong Kong population as a whole. Current statistics show from the 2021 census for 15 to 64 year olds, which then stood at 68%. (O'Neill, A, 2023). This is too broad a demographic to allow a precise figure for Hong Kong's youth.

Figures collated by Mind HK, demonstrate that 61% of adults in the SAR suffer from poor mental wellbeing, whilst 1 in 7 of the population will suffer from a common mental disorder, i.e., which would could possibly resolved using counselling techniques (MindHK, n.d,). Another statistic from the same study revealed almost three quarters of mental health patients do not seek any form of professional help.

How do Hong Kong's mental health statistics stack up against international figures? According to research carried out in 2018, globally, 1 in 7 people have a mental disorder, (Ritchie, 2018) making the SAR exactly average. However, although these figures demonstrate there is nothing out of the ordinary about mental wellbeing in Hong Kong, the most recent information shows a worrying trend. According to a May 2023 article, the number of Hong Kong students with mental health problems has doubled in 4 years due to social unrest and Covid (Yiu, 2023).

Investigation into the consequences of the Covid pandemic on mental health is ongoing and quite what the long term effects on people will be, remain to be fully realized. Indications such as those given above paint a gloomy picture for Hong Kong's mental health in the short term, underscoring the essential role of the availability of counselling services in the SAR. As a result of experience during the pandemic, international schools in the territory are building more integrated and responsive support services (Harrison, Tam, Yeung, 2021), underscoring and furthering the original reasons for which counselling services were established in Hong Kong more than fifty years ago.

References

Harrison, M.G., Tam, C., Yeung, S., (2021), Counselling support for the mental health of children in Hong Kong's international schools during the COVID-19 pandemic: parents' perspectives, 19 July, 2021 Educational and Developmental Psychologist vol 40, 2023

MindHK, (n.d.) Article What is the Mental Health Situation in Hong Kong? www.mind.org.hk

Ritchie, H., (2018) Global Mental Health: Five Key Insights Which Emerge From the Data

www.ourworldindata.org/global-mental-health

Yiu, W., (2023) South China Morning Post article Number of Hong Kong Students with Mental Health Problems Doubles in 4 Years, with Experts blaming 2019 social unrest and Covid 8 May 2023

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