There was minimal information about the background of the counselling profession in Tonga was found via research, only some information about the history of mental health in Tonga can be found. Before the 1940s, there were no mental health services and facilities in Tonga (Tonga Community Development Trust, 2009). Then, mentally ill patients “were diagnosed in a traditional framework in which the perspective was linked to fesi’ia, fakamahaki, te’ia (spiritual/cultural interventions) according to the order of manifestation and severity” (Tonga Community Development Trust, 2009, p. 21).
In 1948, due to some of the patients in the hospital who started becoming aggressive and potentially dangerous, the Ministry of Health required that they be transported to the national prison in Hu’atolitoli (Tonga Community Development Trust, 2009). In 1978 a shift occurred, psychiatric wards were implemented in communities and the prisoners who needed psychiatric help were given the proper treatment (Tonga Community Development Trust, 2009). In 2004, the Mental Health Review Tribunal Committee was created which helped with regulation of mental health services (Tonga Community Development Trust,