MODULE TWO: COUNSELLING - FHI 360 Center for Global Health ...

VALUES AND ATTITUDES REGARDING HIV/AIDS
Attitudes and values consist of feelings, beliefs and emotions regarding a fact,
thing, behaviour or person. They can seriously impact counsellor’s behaviour
towards clients, especially when the clients have different attitudes and values.
It is important for counsellors to be aware of their own attitudes and values so
that they can “subdue” them during counselling sessions. In other words, the
counsellor’s values and attitudes should not have any impact on the way s/he
serves the client.
Values
The aim of re-visiting values again is because of the important role it plays in
defining how we relate to people and talk to them; how important it is to control
ourselves no matter how emotional we might be about certain issues. We must
not in any way show our differences while we talk to our clients.
Definition
Values are what we believe in. They are the things we assign importance to and
things we are against. Individuals derive their values from:
♦ The family: family is the primary source of value formation. In fact the basic
role of the family is to impart to the children the norms, beliefs and culture of
the society as well as the family’s personal opinion about life.
♦ The society: despite the fundamental values formed by youth from different
family background, the society impacts greatly on the outlook of its members.
♦ Formal education: exposure to formal education greatly influences people’s
beliefs and consequently their values. The things that we are taught directly
build up our knowledge. This knowledge influences our desires directly or
indirectly.
Other key issues that determine our values include religion and peer group.
Clear Values
Clear values are values formed by individuals that are not affected by social
pressures; that is, they reflect clear understanding of what the individual really
believes in.
Clear values enable us to:
♦ Make decisions that are in line with our beliefs.
♦ Help us resist pressure to conform to other’s values and behavior.
Session 2 – Pg.3