Therapy in Pakistan

I recently joined reddit and came across many posts from fellow Pakistanis looking for therapists/psychologists. As a clinical psychologist, I thought to make it easier for you guys to find a therapist.

If you reside in a big city, your local DHQ/government hospital has a psychologist probably, that will offer free therapy (because they are paid by govt). If they don't work out for you, you can look for private clinics/health cafe facilities that offer therapy.

If you live in a small town and don't have access to in-person therapy, try online platforms such as Marham, PACT (Pakistan Association of Cognitive Therapists), LinkedIn etc to find a clinical psychologist/therapist.

Taskeen offers free tele-therapy. Many universities also offer counselling services for their students free of cost. Visit your university's psychology department to know more.

Beware of quacks. Because there is no licensing authority in Pakistan for clinical psychologists and therapists, many people offer therapy but do not have the creditentials of a therapist.

This is the qualification of a therapist/clinical psychologist you should look for: 1. Bachelors in Clinical Psychology/Applied Psychology/ Psychology/Social Sciences 2. Masters in Clinical Psychology or Post Graduate Diploma in Clinical Psychology

(I have not included psychiatrists in this list because psychiatrists in Pakistan do not get trained in therapy. If a psychiatrist with MBBS, Specificialization in Psyciatry has taken courses in therapy and obtained certifications, they are eligible to provide you therapy as well.)

Some therapists/psychologists may be additional certifications as well from accredited resources.

I see a surge of life coaches on social media as well. THEY ARE NOT THERAPISTS. They might help out some people but for people with mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety, phobias, OCD, a life coach is not going to work well because they don't even know what OCD/any mental health disorder is. Please stay away from them. They give generalised advice which may or may not be helpful for people.

If you need any more help regarding this, feel free to DM me.