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- Understanding the
stages of the
counseling process
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The rest of this presentation describes what providers need
in order to be effective family planning counselors:
- communication skills
- technical information and
- understanding the stages of the counseling process.
A provider needs to use interpersonal communication skills
that help a client make an informed choice. These skills include
treating clients with respect, asking clear questions and helping
clients feel more comfortable talking about their needs.
A provider needs to have technical knowledge about family planning
methods, including effectiveness, side effects and correct use.
Providers should be able to show how the characteristics of
the methods relate to the situation of individual clients.
A provider needs to understand the stages involved in counseling.
In general, the beginning stage is the initial assessment. The
middle stage is providing the right amount of information to
help a client make an informed choice. The end stage is a review
of key information after a method is chosen.
We are using the word “counseling” to refer to all
three of these dimensions of the interaction – communication
skills, technical information, and the stages of the counseling
process. During family planning counseling, the three dimensions
operate simultaneously.
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