Malaysia lacks clinical psychologists, says specialist

The ratio of clinical psychologists to the general population in the country is very low – 1:800,000.
That works out to about 35 in Kuala Lumpur and two in Penang, said clinical psychologist Dr Ng Lai Oon, while there is none in government-run mental hospitals.
Dr Ng explained that the role of clinical psychologists differed from that of psychiatrists.
Clinical psychologists are non-medical professionals with at least a Master’s degree in psychology and they use various non-medical or psychotherapeutic approaches in treating mental disorders. Clinical psychologists do not dispense medication, as that is the job of psychiatrists.
Dr Ng said the ratio is worse when it comes to child psychologists; the ratio is 1:2.5 million and that is about six child psychologists in the whole country. He claimed there were only five child psychiatrists in the country.
He also said that assessment tools were limited.
“The tools are in English but biased towards the situation in the United States, Britain and Australia. They are not culturally sensitive and do not reflect the cultural factors that we have here,” said Dr Ng.
Source