Lao People's Democratic Republic

There were very few literary pieces on the counselling profession in Laos, as the professional counselling field in the country is underdeveloped. As a developing country, there is still not a lot that is offered to the Laos population in terms of: mental health programs, budgets for mental health in the national health plan, programs for special populations affected by mental health illness or conditions, professional networks, mental health policies, or epidemiological studies referring to mental health issues.

Bertrand and Choulamany (2002) explained that in 2001, the Lao Disabled People Association (LDPA) was approved by the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare (MLSW). LDPA “…employs mostly persons with physical handicaps” and “aims at promoting the rights of people with disabilities” (Bertrand & Choulamany, 2002, pg. 45) which gives the Laos population the ability to use their voice. However, Bertrand and Choulamany (2002) stated there are three requirements which exclude mentally disabled individuals. The requirements are as follows; “he/she is a disabled of a good conduct”, “he/she is a disabled person of a good character, accepted by society” and, “he/she is not an insane person” (Bertrand & Choulamany, 2002, pg. 46).

 In 2018, there were only two psychiatrists covering the whole of Laos with a population of seven million people (Choulamany, 2018) with one of them being Dr. Choulamany herself. In a country where professional counselling services are underdeveloped and mental health issues are hidden in the shadows Dr. Choulamany hopes to bring mental health out of the shadows in Laos by strengthening local skills, facilities, and processes while exploding myths and stigmas by sharing successful stories with the correct treatment (Choulamany, 2018).