Summary
Counselling Associations
All Professional Bodies, National Associations (e.g. Mental Health, School, Guidance, Addiction, Faith-based etc.) and Accrediting Organisations.
Psychological Association of Mozambique (PAM)
- There is no official website for this Association
ASEM Mozambique
- Website: https://www.asem-mozambique.org
- Organisation Size: 125 members
SOS Children’s Villages International
- Website: https://www.sos-childrensvillages.org/where-we-help/africa/mozambique/maputo
- Organisation Size: 39,000 employees worldwide
Universities and Other Education and Training Institutes
Lurio University
- University Website: http://www.unilurio.ac.mz/unilurio/en/
- Programme Website: http://www.unilurio.ac.mz/unilurio/pt/ensino/cursos/graduacao
- Programme Name: Faculty of Health Science
- Programme Types: Clinical Psychology (NEW)
Note*: Website is in Portuguese
Universidade Eduardo Mondlane
- University Website: https://www.uem.mz
- Programme Website: https://www.uem.mz/index.php/faculdades-e-escolas/faculdades/faculdade-de-educacao
- Programme Name:
- Programme Types: Bachelor in Psychology
Universidade Pedagógica
- University Website: https://www.up.ac.mz
- Programme Website: https://www.up.ac.mz/faculdades/facep/pt/
- Programme Name: Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology
- Programme Types: Bachelor in Educational Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Social and Organizational Psychology
- Note*: Website is in Portuguese
Universidade São Tomás de Moçambique
- University Website: http://ustm.ac.mz/site/
- Programme Website: http://ustm.ac.mz/site/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=149&Itemid=591
- Programme Name: Faculty of Ethics, Human and Legal Sciences
- Programme Types: Clinical and Organizational Psychology
Universidade Politécnica
- University Website: https://www.4icu.org/reviews/universities-english/3393.html
- Programme Website: NONE
- Programme Name: Social science
- Programme Types: Psychology, Social Work
Counselling Agencies, Services, Group Practices, Counselling Centres
Sharlene Raston
Clinicare Clínica Privada De Maputo
- Website: https://www.clinicare.co.mz/?lang=en
Background & Context
There is no information in regards to the history of counselling in Mozambique but there are several practises that are conducted through non-profit organisations for family reconciliation and promoting psychological well-being to the people in the condition of vulnerability. Moreover, there is only one service provided in a private setting at the city of Maputo. Apart from that if a situation becomes worse, hospital healthcare would recommend to consult a psychiatric for such conditions.
Current Regulatory Status / Level of Recognition:
The status of the counselling profession in Mozambique is very limited. However, there is an association called Psychological Association of Mozambique (PAM) but there is no official website nor any information related to it.
Furthermore there is a team of mental health professionals such as psychologist, psychiatrists and psychiatric technicians were trained to collect data from the health care facilities for recording purpose, interviews and observational evaluation (Santos, Wainberg, Caldas-De-Almeida, Saraceno, & Mari, 2016).
Practice Settings
Counselling practises are available at non-profit organisations. There is also only one private practise that treats anxiety, panic attacks and other severe issues in Maputo. It is recorded under the Licensed Life Coach and NLP Practitioner, Cognitive Behavioural Therapist and Hypnotherapist and have been a registered Psychometrist (PMT 0086835) with the Health Professions Council of South Africa since 2011.
Challenges & Trends
In Mozambique mental health (MH) is poorly studied but most of the patients do not have access to treatment, due to the scarcity of resources (professionals, drugs, infrastructure) but also to the stigma to which these patients are subjected (Pires et al., 2019). Most Mozambicans, believe that diseases are not caused by physical agents, but consequences from short-circuits in the relationship with invisible forces and their rules.
There is a huge gap in poorly accessible to the mentally ill, due to a shortage of resources, professionals’ poor training and lack of cultural adaptations in the therapeutic procedures, resulting in widespread demand for traditional healers. The Minister of Health has developed a major effort to train professionals in MH and a well-structured program; however, practice in the field is still far below the proposed targets and goals (Pires et al., 2019).
Additional Information & References
For a deeper exploration of the counselling profession in the country, interested readers are recommended to read the following journal articles:
- Pires, P., Belo, A., Anube, A., Santos, D., Arroz, J., Pereira, J., . . . Escobar, S. (2019). Mental health in Mozambique; a systematic review. International Journal of Family & Community Medicine, 3(4). doi:10.15406/ijfcm.2019.03.00146
- Santos, P. F., Wainberg, M. L., Caldas-De-Almeida, J. M., Saraceno, B., & Mari, J. D. (2016). Overview of the mental health system in Mozambique: Addressing the treatment gap with a task-shifting strategy in primary care. International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 10(1). doi:10.1186/s13033-015-0032-8
Mozambique