The purpose of counselling young people on reproductive health issues is to help them to:

• Make rational decisions
• Cope with their existing situation.

The more a young person can be made comfortable, the more likely they are to express their sexual and reproductive health problems. This enables you to effectively counsel and serve them so that they can achieve control over their own behaviour, understand themselves, anticipate the consequences of their actions, and making long-term plans.

In counselling there are two actors: you the counsellor and the young person. Your behaviour as well as the characteristics of the young person can affect the counselling process. Counselling is a person-to-person, two-way communication during which you:

• Provide adequate information to help the young person make an informed decision
• Help the young person evaluate their feelings and opinions regarding the problem for which help was sought
• Act as emotional support for them.

Counselling is not:

• A method of providing solutions to the young person's problems
• A method of giving instructions
• The promotion of a life plan that has been successful for you.