A comparative legislative analysis on the legalization of the psychological counseling profession: A critical review of institutional effectiveness and professional domain inclusivity

This study compares two bills before Korea’s 22nd National Assembly—Lee Gae-ho’s Professional Counselor Bill and Nam In-soon & Kim Ye-ji’s Psychologist and Counselor Bill—across four dimensions: credentialing, scope of practice, quality management, and legal enforceability. The Lee bill creates a single “Professional Psychological Counselor” credential that covers integrative fields such as meditation and art therapy, separates evaluation, licensing, and examinations into a multi-layered oversight system, and sets detailed rules for counseling-center operation. In contrast, the Nam–Kim bill splits the profession into “Psychologist” and “Counselor,” centralizes all functions in one agency, and provides few safeguards for center operations, reducing enforceability. Effective legislation should put public safety and well-being ahead of protecting specific guilds, formally recognize diverse specialties, implement multi-tiered quality controls, and balance strong consumer protection with healthy market development. This approach will build a reliable counseling ecosystem and a solid legal foundation for safe, trustworthy services.