To establish the professional examination and licensure system for psychologists and improve the quality of life and health among the public, the Psychologist Act was promulgated by Presidential Order Hua-Zong-(1)-Yi-Zi No.9000224650 on November 21, 2001. Article 1 of the Act provides that “Citizens of the Republic of China who have successfully passed the Clinical Psychologist Examination and obtained in accordance with the present Act the license for Clinical Psychologist may practice as a clinical psychologist (paragraph 1); citizens of the Republic of China who have successfully passed the Counseling Psychologist Examination and obtained in accordance with the present Act the license for Counseling Psychologist may practice as a counseling psychologist (paragraph 2). The term “psychologist” described in the present Act refers to the clinical psychologist and counseling psychologist described in the preceding two subparagraphs (paragraph 3).”

To protect the professional rights of those who had already practiced as psychologists before the promulgation of the Psychologist Act, paragraph 1 of Article 61 of the Act provides that, “Persons who possess any one of the following qualifications and whose credentials have been duly reviewed and approved by the central authorizing agencies may sit the Special Examination for Clinical Psychologists: Persons who, prior to the promulgation of the Psychologist Act, have been employed in clinical psychological positions in a medical institution for not less than two years and who have graduated and hold a baccalaureate or associate diploma from a public or accredited private junior college or higher institution (subparagraph 1); persons who, prior to the promulgation of the Psychologist Act, have been employed in clinical psychological positions in a medical institution for not less than one year and who have graduated and hold a master diploma or above from the clinical psychology or equivalent division, department, or institute of a public or accredited private university or college (subparagraph 2).” Paragraph 2 of Article 61 of the Act provides that, “Persons who possess any one of the following qualifications and whose credentials have been duly reviewed and approved by the central authorizing agencies may sit the Special Examination for Counseling Psychologists: Persons who, prior to the promulgation of the Psychologist Act, have been employed in counseling psychological positions at a medical institution, college advisory or counseling center, or community center for sexual psychological health for not less than two years and who have graduated and hold a baccalaureate or associate diploma from a public or accredited private junior college or higher institution (subparagraph 1); persons who, prior to the promulgation of the Psychologist Act, have been employed in counseling psychological positions at a medical institution, college advisory or counseling center, or community center for sexual psychological health for not less than one year and who have graduated and hold a master diploma or above from the clinical psychology or equivalent division, department, or institute of a public or accredited private university or college (subparagraph 2).” Paragraph 3 of Article 61 of the Act also provides that the following qualification for sitting the Special Examination for Counseling Psychologists, “Persons who, prior to the promulgation of the Psychologist Act, have been employed in counseling psychological positions at a government accredited institution offering advisory or counseling services for not less than three years and who have graduated and hold a baccalaureate or associate diploma from a public or accredited private junior college or higher institution.” Finally, paragraph 4 of Article 61 of the Act provides that three such Special Examinations for Psychologists should be ministered in the five years following the promulgation of the Psychologist Act. Acting on the provision above for the administration of three Examinations in five years, the Ministry of Examination, in due consideration of the Professionals and Technical Personnel Act and its Enforcement Rules, embarked on the drafting of the regulations governing the Professional and Technical Special Examination for Psychologists, which were to take into account both the professional requirements of and social needs for psychologists. During the drafting of the exam regulations, The Department of Health of the Executive Yuan, the supervising agency of the profession, as well as scholars and representatives from related colleges, universities and professional associations were invited to take part in the discussion of the range of issues in the setting up of the regulations. The Regulations were subsequently promulgated by the Examination Yuan on August 13, 2002. The time period for carrying out the provisions of these Regulations is between November 23, 2001 and November 22, 2006. To date, the first Special Examination for Psychologists was offered in October 2003, with a total of 706 examinees registering for the Examination, 633 sitting and 425 qualifying in the Examination, which reflects a qualification rate of 67.14%. The most current Special Examination for Psychologists is the second of the series of three.

The test subjects for the Examination in the category of clinical psychologist include: Principles of clinical psychology (1); Principles of clinical psychology (2); Special topics in clinical psychology (1); Special topics in clinical psychology (2);Special topics in clinical psychology (3). The test questions in all subjects include multiple-choice questions and open-ended essay questions. The test subjects for the Examination in the category of counseling psychologist include: Human behavior and development; Counseling and psychotherapy theories; Counseling and psychotherapy practice (including professional ethics); Group counseling and psychotherapy; Psychological testing and evaluation; Mental health (including abnormal psychology). The test questions in all subjects for the Examination include multiple-choice questions and open-ended essay questions.

For candidates to successfully pass the Examination, a minimum final score of 60 out of 100 points is required. The final score stipulated in the preceding paragraph is arrived at through averaging the scores obtained in all test subjects.Scoring zero in any test subject shall result in failure in the Examination. Missing the Examination in any test subject shall result in a score of zero in that subject.

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