8.2 Draft May 22, 2026
Amendment to the Psychologists Law, 5737-1977
Current legal definition: “The practice of psychology” – professional work in diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, counseling, and guidance regarding mental health issues, which are generally performed by a psychologist (holding a "Bachelor's" degree, registered in the Psychologists Register). Outcome: A severe shortage of therapists resulting in delays in receiving treatment, prolonged suffering, extended impairment, and sometimes deterioration, harming family finances at the micro level and the economy at the macro level alike.
✍️ Submitted by: גיל ששון, פסיכותרפיסט’
📖 Background
Why change it: The law was written fifty years ago, long before the existence of emotional therapies that have since been proven both research- and clinical-wise to be effective (such as CBT, DBT, coaching, EMDR, etc., some of which are even more effective than the common psychodynamic treatment in Israel in 2024). There is no availability for patients suffering from emotional issues to receive subsidized emotional treatments through the HMOs. Waiting times for treatment today range from ten months for subsidized care (HMOs) to many long weeks for subsidized private care (insurance companies).
Important to note: There is opposition from the Psychologists' Association and "registry title holders" to amending the law and even to legislating a parallel law, the "Psychotherapists Law."
📝 Proposal text
What needs to be changed: Enact the Psychotherapists Law, which will legally define who a speech therapist is, treatment authorities according to certification, and the recognition by the authorities of new professions proven by research to be effective in treating specific disorders.
Purpose of the change: Recognition of the speech therapy profession as an effective therapeutic profession for treating emotional disorders. On the one hand, recognition of the profession will enable supervision of certification processes, study materials, and authorized institutions for conducting certification, and on the other hand, it will enable the reduction of waiting lists and the improvement of service for the general population.
Adding speech therapy to the health basket alongside classical treatment professions for speech therapy will allow accessibility of treatment to an audience that currently waits many months for appointments.
It will expedite their admission to treatment and return to a productive routine of life, shorten waiting lists for additional potential patients who need senior clinical therapists, by freeing up appointments from those patients whom speech therapists can help, thereby relieving them of pain and suffering.
✅ For (1)
- + Providing treatment to the general public. Reducing waiting times for treatment. Innovation in therapeutic approaches. Deepening regulation and supervision regarding the issuance of therapist certifications, reducing the heavy economic burden on the economy due to people exiting the labor pool suffering from emotional issues (proven by research in the UK)
⚠️ Against (1)
- − Need for standardization, provision of preventive emotional care, and individuals with malicious intentions exploiting people suffering from emotional problems