Towards a unified theory for HIV/AIDS counselling

The paper explores the introduction of an unified theory for HIV/AIDS counselling. To date the provision of HIV/AIDS counselling has been largely based upon the behavioural theory of counselling. This theory has been adopted by WHO/GPA and its main aims have been the prevention of HIV infection and the psychosocial support for those already infected. It is argued that future counselling interventions should be redirected from a disease-centred approach to a person centred approach. This redirection can be facilitated by the adoption of the self concept as the central measure for evaluating change. It is argued that various ideas should be selected from the behavioural, psychoanalytical and humanistic theories of counselling. These ideas should be amalgamated into a unified theory which provides the theoretical foundation upon which a comprehensive counselling intervention can be based. © 1991 Kluwer Academic Publishers.