A continental survey of clinical neuropsychology in Asia: Current status, training models, practice frameworks, and policies.

Objective

To map the current professional status and state of clinical neuropsychology across the Asian continent. Method: A 53-item English Qualtrics survey by the Asian Neuropsychological Association's International Task Force adapted from Hokkanen et al., was distributed to Asian clinical neuropsychology key informants. Country-level responses were analyzed descriptively and stratified by Human Development Index.

Results

The findings highlight a fragmented clinical neuropsychology landscape across Asia, with substantial heterogeneity across countries and regions. Very High Human Development Index (HDI; a composite measure of a country's life expectancy, education, and per capita income) countries (e.g., Singapore, Japan) often rely on foreign training or subsume neuropsychology under other professional titles, leading to inconsistent domestic professional pathways. Medium and Low HDI countries (e.g., Vietnam, Pakistan) generally lack formal infrastructure, including dedicated training programs, licensing, or professional recognition. A lack of uniformity in training models, with a minority of nations reporting standardized postgraduate specializations or mandatory practical training. Legal and professional recognition is uneven, protected and licensed in only a few High HDI nations (e.g., Japan, Israel), likely hindering referral rates and public understanding and utilization of neuropsychology services.

Conclusion

The future of neuropsychology in Asia requires a coordinated, multi-national approach to establish regional professional bodies that could support shared minimum competency frameworks, cross-country mentorship, training partnerships, resource sharing, advocacy, and benchmarking, while still allowing each country to develop culturally, linguistically, and legally appropriate pathways; securing broad recognition of clinical neuropsychology as a practice specialty and legally protecting the title of clinical neuropsychologist.