Summary

In this study session, you have learned that:

• Family planning counselling is the process whereby you help clients and people in your village to make informed and voluntary choices about the number of children and the spacing of the children within their family.
• There are different ways of providing effective family planning counselling. You may work with individuals, couples or with a group. Usually working with an individual works best.
• At the first contact meeting, focus on general counselling to establish trust, and address the needs and concerns of reproductive health and family planning.
• Method-specific counselling is provided once a person has chosen a specific family planning method. Use the BRAIDED approach to help you remember what to say when you counsel clients on specific methods.
• Follow-up counselling is given to discuss and manage any problems or side-effects, and to discuss alternatives if the original method has not been satisfactory.
• GATHER is an acronym to help remember the 6 basic steps in the counselling process:
  • G  Greet
  • A  Ask
  • T  Tell
  • H  Help
  • E  Explain
  • R  Return.
• Factors which can affect counselling outcomes can be viewed from different perspectives: yours, your clients, and the reproductive health services in your country. Thinking about potential problems can help you to work around them to deliver an effective service.