Counseling in Iran: History, Current Status, and Future Trends

Abstract

As a growing profession, counseling in Iran was first established within the Iranian educational system. Counselors in Iran have provided mental health services during natural disasters and war. The counseling profession in Iran currently faces challenges in addressing the needs of women; ethnic minorities; and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals. In this article, the authors focus on the historical background, current trends, and future challenges of the counseling profession in Iran.

Help-seeking strategies and treatment experiences among individuals diagnosed with Bipolar Spectrum Disorder in Iran: A qualitative study

“…The importance of psychological language and practice as a vehicle for promoting the regime’s ideological and political values in society was acknowledged by the Iranian regime; hence, governmental organizations such as PCOIRI have explicitly emphasized adjusting counseling and psychological practices to conform to Islamic cultural values. 10 Emphasizing the importance of family values and heterosexual marriage through offering pre-marital counseling became one of the ways to reach this goal ( Fatemi et al, 2015 ).…”

“…In the new millennium, however, through widespread access to the Internet and satellite technology, Iranian society has been experiencing a transition from a society that is traditional, patriarchal, and religious to one that is adopting modern and secular values and that emphasizes individual rights ( Mahdavi, 2007 ; Shahhosseini et al, 2012 ). This societal transition has led to a large cultural gap between generations and created interpersonal tensions at different levels, including parent–child relationships ( Fatemi et al, 2015 ) and the relationship between social and legal authorities and ordinary people. Furthermore, these societal changes have polarized the attitudes of Iranian scholars in the field of psychology on the role of cultural adaptation in counseling and psychological practices.…”

“…Similarly, generational differences in understanding, coping with, and seeking help for mental health problems are reported in studies in Iran. This is associated with a move from traditional pathways towards more biomedical interventions and popular psychology methods ( Behrouzan, 2016 ; Fatemi et al, 2015 ; Mianji & Kirmayer, 2021 ).…”

Health System Challenges in the 21st Century

“…While the overall healthcare indices in the past 20 years have raised 71 folds [2] accordingly, many problems in different parts of the health system are encountered [3]. The share of people paying health care costs is extensive [4] and equity in health care and financial equity in health costs are also lacking; [5] Insurance organizations do not utilization or protect patients against unexpected costs [6].…”

“…Insurance organizations in addition to the challenges posed by the burdens of dental and medical care, also suffer from structural problems namely those that preclude full payment of the insured thus leading to out-of-pocket spending; this is especially so in dentistry [5]. Though, there have been many attempts to solve these problems in the areas of oral health care, and pharmaceuticals, significant expansion in insurance coverage has occurred [11]; however, without sufficient attention to the cause of problems, efforts to overcome them are prone to fail.…”