1. Sharing what you said in a session, or other personal information, without your consent and outside what the law requires.
2. Any sexual or romantic involvement with a current client, or in many cases a former one.
3. Practising without a valid registration or practising certificate, or being unclear or misleading about their actual qualifications and title.
4. Using the professional relationship for personal, financial, or other advantage.
5. Discrimination or disrespect based on race, religion, gender, sexuality, disability, or other personal characteristics.
6. Ending the professional relationship abruptly, without a proper referral, especially while you’re in crisis.
7. Dishonest billing, or charging for things that didn’t happen as described.
8. Giving a diagnosis, treatment, or advice clearly outside their training or scope of competence.
9. Anything in a session that felt coercive, humiliating, or unsafe.

This list is meant to be illustrative, not exhaustive. If something felt wrong and you’re unsure whether it “counts,” it’s reasonable to describe what happened and let the relevant body assess it. That assessment is their job, not yours.

Concerns between professionals can also be raised. If you’re a supervisee, trainee, student, employee or colleague, examples might include:

Supervisory and training relationships

• A supervisor who misuses their power, for example through intimidation, public humiliation, or threats about your career or placement.
• Supervision that is neglected or inadequate, such as cancelled sessions, no feedback, or sign-offs given without proper oversight.
• A supervisor or trainer who pressures a supervisee into personal, financial or romantic involvement, or into work outside their competence.
• A supervisee’s work, ideas or data being used or published without credit or consent.

Multiple roles and academic settings

• Overlapping roles that create a conflict of interest, such as supervising or grading someone who is also a client, business partner or close personal contact.
• Retaliation against a student or trainee who raised a concern, for example through a poor evaluation, a withdrawn placement or a damaged reference.
• Being pushed to disclose personal information, including your own therapy history, as a requirement of training.

Business and workplace conduct

• Misleading advertising or marketing, such as inflated claims, misrepresented qualifications, or unsupported guarantees of results.
• Pressure to bill for sessions that didn’t happen, to over-treat, or to keep clients longer than needed.
• Taking, or encouraging others to take, clients or referrals through deception or by misusing confidential information.
• Being asked to compromise clinical records, confidentiality or consent practices because of business pressures.

Colleague conduct

• Harassment, bullying, discrimination or sexual advances toward a colleague.
• Knowing about a colleague’s unethical conduct, or about practice that puts clients at risk, and not knowing how or whether to raise it.
• False or damaging statements about a colleague made to clients, employers or the wider community.
• A colleague who continues to practise despite impairment, such as serious illness, substance misuse, or burnout, with no support or safeguards in place.

Not every concern will fit a single body’s remit. Some may be better dealt with by an employer, a university or another regulator. If you’re unsure, the body you contact will tell you whether it can assess the concern, or point you elsewhere.

Lembaga Kaunselor Malaysia (LKM) is the statutory body that registers counsellors in Malaysia under the Counsellors Act 1998. If the person you’re concerned about practises as a “registered counsellor,” this is the correct body.

1. If you can, check the professional’s registration and practising certificate status with LKM first.
2. Complete LKM’s online complaint form, Borang Aduan Tatalaku (e-Aduan). It will ask for your details, the counsellor’s name, registration number and practice address (if known), and a factual account of what happened, including date, time and place.
3. You may be asked whether you can provide a sworn complaint letter (Surat Aduan Bersumpah). This is a formal legal document some cases require, and the form lets you indicate if one is attached.
4. Submit the form. LKM’s own committee reviews the case from there.

The Code of Ethics link is a PDF copy hosted by UiTM, as we couldn’t find the code published directly on LKM’s own site. The content itself is LKM’s.

MAHPC is the statutory council, under the Ministry of Health, that registers Clinical Psychologists in Malaysia under the Allied Health Professions Act 2016 (Act 774). If the person you’re concerned about is a registered Clinical Psychologist, this is the body with legal authority over their registration.

1. Prepare full particulars: your own details in full (anonymous complaints are not processed), a clear and structured written account of what happened, and any supporting documents or evidence.
2. Submit through the Public Complaints Management System (SISPAA), or send your complaint directly to the Allied Health Sciences Division (Bahagian Sains Kesihatan Bersekutu), Ministry of Health Malaysia, at bskb@moh.gov.my.
3. Incomplete or unsupported submissions may not be considered, so take the time to lay out dates, what was said or done, and who was involved.

In MAHPC’s own words, from their email response to our enquiry: information submitted is handled in accordance with applicable confidentiality requirements, but anonymity is not guaranteed where disclosure is required for administrative or legal purposes.

MSCP is the national professional society for clinical psychologists. It is not a government regulator like MAHPC, but it holds its own members to a formal Code of Ethics, and its complaint process is open to members of the public as well as members.

1. Submit MSCP’s online ethics complaint form, describing the concern as factually as you can.
2. MSCP’s Executive Council reviews the complaint first to confirm it falls within their authority (for example, whether the professional is a current or former member, and whether the conduct happened in Malaysia).
3. If there are sufficient grounds, a formal charge is raised and the professional is given a set period to respond in writing before any investigation begins.
4. An outcome, ranging from dismissal to reprimand to more serious sanctions, follows after review, with an appeal option for the professional.

This process has more steps than LKM’s, mainly because MSCP is a membership body rather than a statutory regulator, but it’s a genuine, documented process, not an informal one.

A clear, dated account is one of the most useful things you can give any of the bodies above. As you put it together, try to include:

1. The date and (where possible) time of each incident or interaction.
2. What was said or done, written as close to the actual words and actions as you can recall.
3. Who else was present or involved, if anyone.
4. If there’s more than one incident, how they relate to each other. A pattern over time reads very differently from a single moment.
5. How it affected you or the person affected, described concretely and specifically rather than in general terms.

It’s best to write things down as soon as you reasonably can, while details are still fresh. Even rough, informal notes with dates on them are genuinely useful later.

1. Keep original copies of any written communication: messages, emails, session notes, invoices, or anything else connected to the interactions. Screenshots are fine, but keep the original file or thread too where you can.
2. Note any witnesses and whether they’d be willing to be contacted, without pressuring them either way.
3. Where relevant, note the professional’s registration or practising certificate number. It’s often on a receipt or website, or you can search their name directly in MAHPC’s or MSCP’s online directory, or LKM’s registered-counsellor registry.
4. Avoid editing or annotating original documents directly; keep a separate set of notes instead, so timestamps and content stay intact.

If you’re unsure whether something counts as evidence, it’s generally better to include it and let the reviewing body decide than to leave it out.

1. Putting this together can mean reliving a difficult experience, sometimes more than once. You don’t have to finish it in one sitting. It’s alright to write a little, step away, and come back.
2. If drafting it alone feels like too much, consider asking someone you trust to help you organise your notes or simply sit with you while you write, rather than doing it in isolation.
3. If this starts to feel consuming, it’s reasonable to set yourself a boundary, for example a set amount of time per day, rather than letting it take over.
4. Preparing your documentation doesn’t commit you to submitting it. You’re allowed to put it together, sit with it, and decide later.

The bodies listed above handle the professional-conduct side of things. They are generally not set up to support you emotionally through the process, so it helps to line that up separately.

1. If you’re a mental health professional facing an ethical concern, professional harm, or uncertainty about whether or how to report: EAC’s Dyad Consultation offers confidential, trauma-informed peer support designed exactly for this kind of situation.
2. If you’re a member of the public, a trusted friend or family member, or your own therapist or counsellor if you have one, can be a steady presence while you go through this.
3. Either way, you don’t have to carry the process alone simply because the complaint itself is something only you can file.