title: Concepts, goals, and techniques of counseling: review and implications for HIV counseling and testing.
abstract: Research to examine, understand, and improve the usefulness and effectiveness of HIV counseling and testing (HIV CT) has been challenging, to some extent because of a less than fully articulated conceptual framework. The goal of this article is to place HIV CT in a conceptual and theoretical context, not only of counseling and psychotherapy but also of a larger framework of models of behavior change. Counseling approaches are also compared with respect to how well they address five tasks of HIV counseling: relationship building, risk assessment, dissemination of information, behavior change, and emotional and coping support. No single counseling approach was found to meet all of these tasks. Behavioral and cognitive-behavioral approaches were considered most relevant to the tasks of HIV counseling, whereas client-centered and crisis counseling approaches were appropriate for the relationship building and emotional/coping support components of HIV counseling. In addition, this article provides a more differentiated view of HIV CT and suggests how further research into the effectiveness of HIV counseling can be informed by primary underlying counseling theories.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee 53202, USA.
authors.forename: K J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Sikkema
authors.forename: R T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Bissett
mesh_terms: D015492:AIDS Serodiagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology / Q000635:transmission; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; D003376:Counseling / Q000379:methods*; D006040:Goals; D006266:Health Education; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D016896:Treatment Outcome