BEHAVIOUR CHANGE COMMUNICATION AND

BASIC COUNSELLING SKILLS

DT DOBIE REFRESHER TRAINING FOR WELLNESS

CHAMPIONS

24TH APRIL 2014

By: Sylvia Y. Luchemo

Training Consultant

Outline

Introduction

Definitions

Effective Communication in BCC (7Cs)

Wheel of Change (Stages of Change in BCC)

Basic counselling Skills

Introduction

IS HE IEC, BCC, OR SBC?

Definitions

Behaviour: Is an observable action

It is what you choose to do or not to do

Behaviour Change: Movement from undesirable (risky) behavior to desirable (non-risky) behavior

Behaviour Change Communication: A process that involves a community engaging in a dialogues to honestly reflect on their attitudes, beliefs and practices with an aim of coming up with solutions to address their social and health concerns

7Cs of Effective Communication in BCC

Command attention

Create trust

Cater for both head and heart

Clarify message

Communicate benefits

Consistency counts

Call for action

STAGES (WHEEL) OF CHANGE IN BCC

“Stages of Change” model, by Prochaska and DiClemente

APPROPRIATE INTEVENTIONS IN EACH STAGE OF CHANGE

Pre-contemplation: Encourage self-awareness, personalize risk

Contemplation: Encourage analysis of the “pros and cons” of changing behavior; identify and promote new goals

Preparation: Encourage the first small steps, identify social support

Action: Bolster self-efficacy, deal with feelings of loss, reinforce gains and benefits

Maintenance: Plan follow-up support, reinforce internal rewards

BASIC COUNSELLING SKILLS

COUNSELLING: Is a technique/ skill concerned with helping people to help themselves by the development of a special relationship, which leads the client into a greater depth of self understanding.

PEER COUNSELING: A process where a peer empowers fellow peers to gain new awareness of themselves through offering them support and counteracting challenge.A peer counselor uses these skills to help peers get a better understanding of their problems and find ways of dealing/ coping with them which in turn helps them adjust socially and become more self aware.

Peer Counseling offers/ provides: Caring support to the peers Basic skills in supporting other peers A bridge between the troubled peers and friends Support during bereavement

Counselling Components

Is characterized by three components also known as the

core conditions of counseling. These are:

1. Empathy: ability of the peer counselor to walk with the client through their experiences and communicate this kind of feeling.

2. Respect/ Unconditional Positive Regard (UPR): to mean communicating genuine care for the other person without judging.

3. Congruence/ Genuineness: this is the individual’s inner feelings versus the outer display. A congruent person is real and genuine while an incongruent person puts a mask. Self awareness is therefore very important.

BASIC COUNSELING SKILLS

1. Attending skills

S – sit squarely

O – open posture

L – lean forward (but not bending)

E – eye contact (but not staring)

R – relax

Counseling skills contd.

2. Active listening

Be focused and avoid interruptions

Do not be judgmental

Do not be passive or indifferent

Understand what the client says

3. Questioning (open & closed ended questions appropriately)

4. Probing

5. Paraphrasing

Counseling skills contd.

6. Reflective skills (active skills of empathy)

7. Minimal prompts (nodding head, use of “mm mm”

8. Clarification (checking out your understanding after listening).

9. Focusing: past to present; facts to feelings;

10. Summarizing (also linked to paraphrasing); allows client and counselor to have an overall picture of the situation they are talking about.

THE COUNSELING PROCESS

This is a practical and systematic way of helping the clients to understand themselves and their problem situations with a view to setting goals and taking action for them to be able to manage their lives more effectively.

It entails three stages. These are:

i. Exploration – creating a rapport with client while utilizing social skills and positive attitude for the client to be at ease.

ii. Understanding – use of open-ended questions and reflections to help the client explore fully all the possible ways/ options to resolve the problem.

iii. Action – counselor helps the client make a plan on how to solve his/her problem while prioritizing the issues and the course of action the client wishes to take. Counselor should then summarize the plan the client has made and encourage him/her to get back to discuss how the plan has worked out.

ASANTEH!!!!