Journal of Meditation based Psychological Counseling (J Medit Psychol Couns)
Indexed in KCI
OPEN ACCESS, PEER REVIEWED
pISSN 2289-0823
eISSN 2671-6119
Research Article

A comparative legislative analysis on the legalization of the psychological counseling profession: A critical review of institutional effectiveness and professional domain inclusivity

1Assistant Profeesor, Department of Medical Counseling, Wonkwang University, Jeollabuk-do, Republic of Korea
2Counselor, Gasan Psychological Counseling Office, LG Electronics, Seoul, Republic of Korea

Correspondence to Kim, Hye-Kyung, E-mail: rosehk@hanmail.net

Volume 34, Pages 71-85, August 2025.
Journal of Meditation Based Psychological Counseling 2025, 34, 71-85. https://doi.org/10.12972/mpca.2025.34.6
Received on August 08, 2025, Revised on August 30, 2025, Accepted on August 30, 2025, Published on August 31, 2025.
Copyright © 2025 Meditation based Psychological Counseling Association.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0).

Abstract

This study compares two bills before Korea’s 22nd National Assembly—Lee Gae-ho’s Professional Counselor Bill and Nam In-soon & Kim Ye-ji’s Psychologist and Counselor Bill—across four dimensions: credentialing, scope of practice, quality management, and legal enforceability. The Lee bill creates a single “Professional Psychological Counselor” credential that covers integrative fields such as meditation and art therapy, separates evaluation, licensing, and examinations into a multi-layered oversight system, and sets detailed rules for counseling-center operation. In contrast, the Nam–Kim bill splits the profession into “Psychologist” and “Counselor,” centralizes all functions in one agency, and provides few safeguards for center operations, reducing enforceability. Effective legislation should put public safety and well-being ahead of protecting specific guilds, formally recognize diverse specialties, implement multi-tiered quality controls, and balance strong consumer protection with healthy market development. This approach will build a reliable counseling ecosystem and a solid legal foundation for safe, trustworthy services.

Keywords

Psychological Counseling Legislation, Mental Health, Specialized Domains, Comparative Legislative Analysis, Meditation-based Psychological Counseling

Section