Administrative-legal regulation of the profession of psychologist in Poland

Abstract

The article discusses the need to regulate the profession of psychologist on the model of professions of public trust. The current Act of 8 June 2001 is basically a so-called dead law and does not contribute to ensuring the safety of people who use the services provided by psychologists. This state of affairs is unacceptable in the era of a rapid increase in the number of people requiring various types of psychological interventions. The introduction of legal regulations that will comprehensively regulate the rules of this profession will secure the correctness of psychological services provided, which will be beneficial both for psychologists themselves and their clients. It is to be hoped that in the near future a comprehensive legal act will be passed, which will satisfy not only the community of psychologists, but above all will contribute to ensuring safety in the area of mental health of Poles. The article aims to demonstrate that the profession of psychologist meets all the characteristics of professions of public trust, as provided for in Article 17(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, and therefore administrative and legal restrictions on the exercise of this profession should be introduced, thus taking care to secure the interests of the state and its citizens in terms of access to professional psychological services.