Moroccan psychologists warn of ‘chaotic’ mental-health sector, absence of legal oversight

 Mental-health professionals and academics are warning of what they describe as a “shocking level of chaos” in Morocco’s psychology field, citing the absence of a legal framework to regulate the profession and protect patients.

Specialists who spoke to Hespress said the sector is marked by “ambiguity and disorder,” with trained psychologists sidelined while unqualified individuals present themselves as experts and open private offices without oversight. They say the growing visibility of mental-health issues has been accompanied by a surge in self-proclaimed practitioners offering services without academic training or clinical supervision.

Fouad Yaacoubi, a social psychologist and head of the Moroccan Association of Researchers and Social Psychologists, said unlicensed individuals are opening clinics and “trading in people’s suffering without any form of regulation.”

He said the lack of state monitoring has allowed harmful practices to spread, including the exploitation of vulnerable clients — particularly women — emotional manipulation, and the charging of exorbitant fees for unscientific sessions. Such abuses, he added, pose a direct threat to public health and can lead to psychological deterioration “in the absence of any accountability mechanism.”

Yaacoubi said the regulatory gap has created deep frustration among university-trained graduates, while unqualified actors dominate the field. He called for a clear and strict law defining the profession, training requirements and licensing procedures, similar to frameworks governing medicine, pharmacy and law. Without such a law, he warned, Morocco faces a growing “psychological and social crisis.”

Clinical psychologist Hanaa Mahdi echoed those concerns, saying the field faces “dangerous confusion,” with titles and roles often misused. She stressed that psychiatrists, clinical psychologists and life coaches have distinct competencies, and that life coaches “are not mental-health therapists under any circumstances.”

Mahdi said protecting public safety requires regulating the profession, enforcing rigorous clinical training, establishing a national registry of certified practitioners and penalizing unauthorized practice. Confusing coaching with clinical care, she argued, exposes citizens to interventions that can worsen their conditions.

“The human being is not a testing ground,” Mahdi said, warning that mental-health care is a scientific, ethical and long-term responsibility. “Any intervention outside these standards is a silent form of harm.”