Bhutan

Bhutan is a very secluded country where they limit tourists into the country (Tourism Council of Bhutan, n.d.). Hence, the presence of counsellors is not very known and no formal training can be found. There are only religious figures that support the population with their mental health needs, e.g., guidance and prayer. In recent years, Bhutan has finally sought help in getting more knowledge on the importance of counselling. They have been equipping counsellors in schools and universities in school guidance counsellor. There are more than 200 counsellors as of 2017 in Bhutan (Lhamo, 2017). With the acknowledgement from the Royal Highness Princess Kesang Choden Wangchuck, identifying existing issues such as gender inequality, abuse, and violence on women has resulted in RENEW refocusing to give counselling services to those in need (Lhamo, 2017).

Even though Bhutan is considered among the top 10 happiest countries in the world measured by gross national happiness (NGH; Sondergaard, n.d.), the suicide rate is still prominent and remains an issue. In Bhutan, mental health is heavily stigmatized as in most countries in Asia. People often overlook the fact that Bhutan still lacks counselling for mental health issues and the lack of counsellors in the country has been identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as an issue, also.

Since Bhutan has now been open for help from outside their country, the field of counselling is dominated by Western counselling thought and traditions. In general, importing Western styles of practice and training to other Asian nations has left professionals to question the possible cultural relevance of Western approaches to non-Western settings (Lester, 2015).