The Need For Psychological Services Increases Since COVID-19 Pandemic

JAKARTA - General Chairperson of the Central Board of the Indonesian Psychological Association (HIMPSI), Seger Handoyo said the need for community psychological services has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The need for psychological services in Indonesia, especially since the outbreak of the pandemic is increasing. The number of people who have access to the Sejiwa 119 ext 8 service, which is managed by HIMPSI and the government, reached 2,453 calls in the first three months from the start of the service," said Seger in a written statement in Jakarta, Sunday, February 13.

He added that the increase in the number of people who access these services, must be seriously followed up by psychological service providers throughout Indonesia in order to ensure that people who use psychological services can use them optimally.

Psychological service institutions also receive many requests for psychological service needs, both for psychological counseling needs, psychological assessments, and others.

"The company has also responded to the need for psychological services by collaborating with psychological institutions and some others have established psychological service centers through the Employee Assistance Program (EAP)," he added.

Responding to the increasing need for psychological services, a number of psychological institutions in Indonesia agreed to form the Association of Indonesian Psychological Institutions (PLPSI) as a forum to work together to improve psychological services in Indonesia.

"HIMPSI as a professional organization that houses professionals in the field of psychology welcomes this formation, because PLPSI can help HIMPSI and all its organizational tools to improve the quality of psychology practice services and enforce the psychology code of ethics in Indonesia," he explained.

Seger hopes that the PLPSI institution can contribute to improving the mental health of the Indonesian people with good psychological services.

Psychology in its application is intended to improve mental health through various psychological services. Currently, discussions are also underway to ratify the Psychology Practice Bill, which is a priority for National Legislation Program.

"This law is important for the protection of the public for psychological services carried out by parties who do not have the competence or who commit malpractice."

Dean of the Psychology Faculty of Atma Jaya UNIKA, Dr. Theresia Indira Shanti, MSi Psychologist Psychotherapist said that the Faculty of Psychology UNIKA Atma Jaya as one of the faculties that has a psychology service bureau is concerned about the quality and standards of psychological services to the community.

"We hope that our concern is in line with the good intentions of PLPSI and HIMPSI," Theresia said.

Head of PLPSI, Mohamad Abdilah Nuradhi, M.Psi Psychologist, said in the future his party will ensure that psychological service providers implement service standards that will be agreed upon, receive guidance and development related to service processes to develop business processes while still complying with the psychological code of ethics, and encourage the development of various completeness of support for the practice of psychology.