Counselling Associations
IAC Member Associations & Organizations
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Universities & Training Institutes
IAC Education Institute Members
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Additional Education Institutes
African University of Science Administration and Commercial studies
- Programme Types: Psychology
Counselling Agencies, Services, Group Practices & Centres
IAC Member Centres/Group Practices
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Additional Centres/Group Practices
Association Togolaise pour le Bien-Être Familial (ATBF) Centre des Jeunes (Togolese Association for Family Well-Being (ATBF) Youth Center
The Center for Research and Information for Health in TOGO
English language counselling agencies or associations are hardly available. The pages were translated and the information was extracted from the french or togolaise speaking pages.
Background & Context
An officially approved mental health policy exists and was approved in 1994. Mental health is specifically mentioned in the general health policy. The mental health plan components include:
- Timelines for the implementation of the mental health plan.
- Funding allocation for the implementation of half or more of the items in the mental health plan.
- A shift of services and resources from mental hospitals to community mental health facilities.
- Integration of mental health services into primary care.
Dedicated mental health legislation does not exist. However, legal provisions concerning mental health are covered in other laws (e.g., welfare, disability, general health legislation, etc.).
According to Mental Health ATLAS, the last updated mental health policy plan was in 2015.
When it comes to mental health practice, people prefer traditional medicine because of its availability, and most of the population believes that mental illnesses are caused by evil spirits or spells. Habitually, they go to Christian prayer camps in the belief that they will help them. Only after the disorder progresses they go to the psychiatrist, usually after they have spent all the money. Traditional healers usually cost expensive (ex; goats), and they end up moneyless and still sick.
In Togo, there is a relatively large number of psychology graduates, but they are not appropriately trained or employed for clinical work. Moreover, Togo has only two psychiatrists.
Regulatory Status / Level of Recognition
There is no available information on current regulatory status about counselling in Togo.
Practice Settings
Prescription regulations authorize primary health care doctors to prescribe, but with restrictions. The department of health does not authorize primary health care nurses to prescribe the psychotheraupetic medicines. Official policy does not permit primary health care nurses to independently diagnose and treat mental health disorders within the primary care system.
The majority of primary health care doctors and nurses have not received in-service training on mental health. Officially approved manuals on the management and treatment of mental health disorders are not available in the majority of primary health care clinics. Official referral procedures for referring persons from primary care to secondary/tertiary care exist as do referral procedures from tertiary/secondary care to primary care.
Challenges & Trends
- Inequity access to health services.
- Poverty
- People usually first turn to traditional or religious healers.
- The “treatment” is usually abuse; beaten or chained for weeks or months
- It has only two psychiatrists.
Additional Information & References
For a deeper exploration of the counselling profession in the country, interested readers are recommended to read the following journal articles:
Balon, R., Beresin, E. V., Brenner, A. M., Coverdale, J. H., Guerrero, A. P. S., Louie, A. K., & Roberts, L. W. (2016). Opportunities and Challenges of Global Mental Health. Academic Psychiatry, 40(4), 643–646. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-016-0574-3
Maiga, D. D., & Eaton, J. (2014). A survey of the mental healthcare systems in five Francophone countries in West Africa: Bénin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Niger and Togo. International Psychiatry, 11(03), 69–72. doi:10.1192/s1749367600004549
Mental Health Atlas-2017 country profiles. (2019). World Health Organization.
Togo