Test counseling is difficult work. There are not really any standards describing what your limits are. Counselors are often left with a lack of closure with their clients. There is so much we'd like to discuss, but constraints such as time, anonymity and a full waiting room, make this impossible. These narratives and converstations give us a sense of how prevention education can happen during test counseling even under difficult circumstances. Each counsleor solves these problems differently and we can all learn from each other.
These narratives were collected as part of Nicolas Sheon's HIV test counseling study at the Berkeley Free Clinic. The interviews were open ended, and counselors were asked to describe memorable clients or various aspects of their counselor training. The interviews were taped and transcribed. They are reproduced with minimal editing, except to protect the identities of clients. The details of the situations described have been altered to protect the confidentiality of those involved.
The counselors were very generous in allowing me to reproduce portions of the interviews so that all can benefit from their insights and experiences. My own counseling has benefited tremendously from these discussions. Unlike written protocols or manuals, these transcribed interviews give the reader a sense of the emotions and attitudes that counselors bring to their work. Counseling and effective advice really boil down to modelling an attitude to get the the client to see their situation in a different light. These are the skills that salespeople use to get you to buy something. Likewise counselors want their clients to "buy off on something" and they are always looking for the "hook." Since HIV prevention and education basically boils down to spoken language, we can learn a lot from reading the actual transcripts. See also examples of actual test counseling sessions.
The narratives collected from free clinic volunteers are just examples of the kind of narratives that you could submit yourself. The following list represents only a fraction of what I have collected. I will upload more when I get a chance. In the mean time send in your insights and reactions when reading these. Tell me if they are useful for your counseling. Also please give suggestions on the format in which they are presented.
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