1. BEHAVIOUR CHANGE COMMUNICATION AND
BASIC COUNSELLING SKILLS
DT DOBIE
REFRESHER TRAINING FOR WELLNESS
CHAMPIONS
24TH
APRIL 2014
By: Sylvia Y. Luchemo
Training Consultant

2. Outline
 Introduction
 Definitions
 Effective Communication in BCC (7Cs)
 Wheel of Change (Stages of Change in BCC)
 Basic counselling Skills

3. Introduction
IS HE IEC, BCC,
OR SBC?

4. 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

5. 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

6. STAGES (WHEEL) OF CHANGE IN BCC
“Stages of Change” model, by Prochaska and DiClemente

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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.

10. 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

11. 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
2. Questioning (open & closed ended questions appropriately)
3. Probing
4. Paraphrasing

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. ASANTEH!!!!