A fast growing diverse field

IMAGINE the pressure of carrying the hopes of over 30 million Malaysians. A lesser spirit would have buckled 100 times over, but our badminton star Datuk Lee Chong Wei faces the challenge of winning for the country with unflappable grit.

Still, even the champion knew to reach out when he needed help. As part of his preparation for the last few major tournaments including the Olympics Games, Chong Wei enlisted the help of a sports psychologist to build his mental strength.

Sports psychology has become an integral part of the preparation process of Malaysian athletes, says sports psychologist Dr P. Vellapandian, director of Sports Performance Unit at the National Sports Institute of Malaysia (ISN).

Many sports practitioners and coaches in Malaysia are now more aware of the importance of psychology in helping to increase an athlete’s performance, says Dr Vellapandian.

“At ISN, sports psychologists not only conduct intervention to care for athletes’ mental well-being, but they also work with coaches to design a programme to help athletes improve their performance during training and competition. Psychology is seen as key as physical health, nutrition and performance analysis for the athletes’ achievement.”

The programme includes education sessions, practical sessions, individual or group consultations, field observation during training or competition and the necessary tests and evaluation, he adds.

“Through education and practical sessions, athletes will be exposed to techniques for controlling anxiety and arousal, but their ‘programme’ is individualised,” he says, adding that ISN’s sports psychology officers are assigned to work closely with the specific sports groups and athletes for the whole time, not only during competitions.

“How athletes deal with anxiety and motivation will affect their performance. It will influence whether they win or lose.

“And now that Malaysia is competing in more international sports competitions, we need more sports psychologists, especially at ISN,” he stresses, underscoring the high demand for these professionals in the country.

Unfortunately, there is not only a shortage of sports psychologists in Malaysia, but the lack of proper regulations is making it difficult for the existing ones to be recognised as sports psychology professionals.

Laments Dr Vellapandian, “According to international standards and requirements, sports psychologists need to have proper international accreditation. We need to be affiliated to internationally recognised psychological associations like the American Psychological Association, but at the moment we don’t have a body in Malaysia that can endorse our affiliation to these bodies.”

While they have set up a fledgling Malaysian Sports Psychology Association in the country, having a proper Psychology Act that can establish an official umbrella association and national registry for sports psychologists would help.

It will also help strengthen the profession in the country, he adds.

“But we need specialised experts with at least a Masters or doctorate qualification, and having an Act can help set the standards and regulate the practitioners, so that we won’t have to worry about bogus sports psychologists.”

Sports psychology is only one of many fast growing areas of psychology in the country says Malaysian Psychological Association (Psima) past president Dr Goh Chee Leong.

Another is industrial and organisational psychology which focuses on human behaviour in organisations and the work place. 

This strand of psychology can help address issues of performance measurement, workplace motivation and reward systems, worklife balance, organisational development as well as recruitment, selection and placement and consumer behaviour.

There is a growing demand for psychologists in our corporate sector, says Dr Goh. Interestingly, there is also a demand from the government sector for psychology officers to improve the mental wellbeing and productivity of government servants while creating a healthier workplace in the service.

As the World Health Organisation estimates in its recent study, depression and anxiety disorders cost the global economy US$1 trillion each year in lost productivity.

Forensic psychology – the application of other areas of psychology such as cognitive psychology and social psychology to the legal arena – is another growing area, notes Dr Goh.

Then there is health psychology which examines how biological, social and psychological factors influence the choices we make about our health. It looks at, among others, addiction issues, eating disorders and increasingly how technology and social media is impacting our wellbeing.

Consultant psychologist Valerie Jaques, who has dealt with various health psychology cases, says it is important to have psychology practices regulated to protect the rights of the public.

“Currently psychologists are only required to have a business licence, not a certified licence to practice,” she says, admitting that she has not only heard of various cases of “bogus psychologists” in Malaysia, but also helped in a few investigations by authorities.

However, without a proper law, they were not able to take any action against the suspects.

“In one case, we could only warn the relevant ministries. But this bogus person’s business has continued to grow in the past 10 years and is still carrying out unethical practices. Unfortunately, we who hear about it cannot report it as it has not happened to us.

“The ones who need to report are those who have been burned but they do not wish to do so as it not only speaks of them being conned but also that they have a problem that makes them need to seek such services, which is highly taboo. So bogus persons can continue. But if there is an Act then such a person can be charged for not being registered to practice,” she says.

Jaques believes that with the vast spectrum of services and specialisations under psychology, it is also important to set minimum standards of qualification.

“Most of these fields begin with either a science or social science/psychology degrees which is sufficient for working in organisations but to practice as a therapist/assessor there should be at minimum a masters degree. I think the Act should be inclusive of all but specifying certain scope of work and the kind of qualification required for it,” she says.

Consultant educational psychologist and senior lecturer at Help University Dr Caroline Gomez agrees.

“An Act can stipulate the requisite requirement and criteria that will protect the professionals and the ‘users’.

“Not that everyone needs a doctorate, but they should at least have Masters. At the same time, practical experience is also important. People think if they did a degree in psychology, they can become a psychologist. It does not work like that.”

Dr Gomez, who trained and practised in the United Kingdom before returning to Malaysia, shares her experience as a registered member of the UK Health & Care Professions Council.

“As a member I have to do a continued professional development – I have to continually study, learn, operate – and report back to the council.

“We need a council like that in Malaysia; an Act can regulate the profession. It will stipulate the rules and moderate everything. The Government can also know the actual number of psychologists and plan strategically to meet the psychological needs of the people.”

We also need a body to give people legal recourse if anything is wrong and at the same time protect practitioners, she says, “so people can sue us if they think we have given them the wrong diagnosis or treatment.”

Dr Gomez adds there is a growing demand for educational psychology in Malaysia, especially for special education needs, including the gifted and talented.

“The 2008 Disability Act stipulates that every child with special needs requires an individual education plan to realise their full potential, and the Education Ministry has been looking at recruiting more educational psychologists to look after the needs of these young people.”

If we have an Act that supports psychologists and get the Government’s endorsement, she notes that they can put in more resources and funding into this area.

She warns there are people who are setting up centres after getting a little bit of training.

“It has become a money making industry. That is a dangerous. Trainers and education experts need to be trained and accredited.

“It is especially dangerous for special needs children. ”

She notes that educational and child psychologists also work on child protection against child and sexual abuses.

“We need to ensure all professionals in the health and care field are vetted and monitored. All psychologists working with children especially have to go through a police check to make sure they have no criminal record, make sure they are not paedophiles. You can’t let everyone and anyone go into a school because the lives of our children are at stake, she stresses.