Uganda Faces Counselling Shortage as Mental Health Needs Rise, Experts Warn
Mental health experts have warned that Uganda lacks enough trained counsellors to meet rising demand for counselling services, especially outside major towns and cities.
The warning came during the Second National Counsellors’ Summit held at Kyambogo University on Thursday.
Uganda Counsellors Association President Elizabeth Okello said the demand for mental health support has grown in schools, hospitals, families and communities.
She said the rising need has exposed gaps in the availability and quality of professional counselling services across the country.
Okello said the counselling profession still faces challenges linked to standardisation, policy and regulation.
She explained that common standards would help ensure counsellors offer services guided by ethics and professionalism, regardless of where they work.
Call for stronger counselling laws
The counsellors called for stronger policy and legal frameworks to guide counselling practice in Uganda.
They said regulation would improve recognition of the profession and help protect the quality of services offered to the public.
Okello said greater public awareness has made mental health challenges more visible.
She noted that many adult mental health struggles are linked to childhood experiences, including abuse, neglect and trauma.
According to the experts, adults face several challenges, including difficulty adjusting to adulthood, substance abuse, gambling addiction, alcoholism and family-related problems.
They also identified young people aged between 15 and 24 as one of the most affected groups.
Counsellors expressed concern about rising alcohol and substance abuse, criminal behaviour and weak parental guidance among young people.
They said many young people are growing up without strong support systems. This increases their risk of mental health challenges and risky behaviour.
Warning signs that may require counselling
Counsellors also highlighted signs that may show a person needs professional support.
These include loss of interest in daily activities, social withdrawal, poor performance at school or work, negative self-perception and poor personal hygiene.
Other signs include unexplained physical illness and harmful coping habits.
The experts encouraged Ugandans to seek counselling early instead of relying on harmful coping mechanisms or unverified forms of treatment.
The summit was held under the theme “Shaping the Future of Counselling in Uganda: Standards, Practice and Excellence.”
It is expected to produce recommendations aimed at strengthening counselling services and improving mental health support across the country.
UCA pushes for recognition of counsellors
UCA Head of Public Relations Gitta Emmanuel said the annual summit brings counsellors together to share knowledge and improve professional practice.
He said the association also wants counsellors across Uganda to feel recognised and valued.
“We keep on having these conferences to bring the people together, to be able to help them understand and work through things that can help them do better in their profession. So at the end of the day, they need to know that once I am even in Eastern, Western, or Northern, I am noticed and I’m valued. That’s why we even take those conferences, annual conferences in the different regions in the country,” Gitta said.
He said Uganda has more than 6,000 trained counsellors.
However, he added that the focus should now shift to improving access to jobs and increasing recognition of their role in society.
“We have over 6,000 counsellors that are already trained and are there, but what we can do is increase their ability to access the jobs? Because while we are looking out for them, what are they coming to do?” he said.
Gitta said standardising counselling would help bring back professionals who trained in the field but later moved into other sectors due to limited opportunities.
“Most of the people have occupied the work, so once we standardize the work and we know which professionals to provide it to, the people that are out there that did the course and had left it maybe to go do other things, they will return and then be in a position to do that,” he added.
He also said the association is engaging the Ministry of Health to create a framework that can support and advocate for counsellors in Uganda.
“The other thing is, we are looking at the Ministry of Health, as it has already given us a form. We need to see that we belong to a ministry that can also able to support us and advocate for us, and we see a way forward on how they can be supported,” Gitta said.
