Rex Stockton, Ed.D., NCC, responded to a request by Dan- Bush Bhusumane, president of the African Association of Guidance and Counselling (AAGC), to conduct a group counseling training program in sub-Saharan Africa. Bhusumane requested assistance with training in group work procedures for those doing frontline work with HIV/AIDS in Africa, starting in Botswana. This country was selected for a pilot training because there was already a group of individuals interested in receiving training in group work. Additionally, it was hoped that group work could help address the difficulties caused by Botswana having one of the highest HIV/ AIDS prevalence rates in the world, currently 38 percent (UNAIDS/WHO, 2004).

In a collaboration among Indiana University, the AAGC, and the University of Botswana, fifteen people (including counselors, government social service workers, nursing personnel, and a military chaplain) were trained in group counseling procedures during an intensive one-week training in Gaborone, Botswana, during August of 2004.

One of the goals of the training program was to establish culturally sensitive methods for group counseling to address the difficulties caused by HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. The first phase of the one-week training introduced basic principles and practices of group counseling. In the middle phase of the workshop, some direct teaching continued but more time was devoted to practicing group facilitation skills in small groups. Members developed trust and cohesion in their groups as they expect to do in their professional practice. All this was done with every attempt on the facilitator’s part to recognize and respect cultural norms and differences. The final stages of the workshop involved the participants’ more directly experiencing group principles at work, as they formed a working group and discussed the challenges of their daily work in a world devastated by HIV/AIDS.

The general themes of discussions about how to use the information, insights, and experience from this training included ways of using group counseling in working with teachers and the orphans in their classrooms, using it for culturally sensitive and efficacious preventive and treatment measures, and using it as a way to address the denial surrounding HIV/AIDS.

In view of the positive responses and feedback, Bhusumane, as president of AAGC, has recommended that the program be made available to other countries in Africa. Several sub-Saharan countries have already expressed interest in and commitment to the training, which may be made available through the AAGC. Group counseling seems to fit well with the African cultural environment and current practices of providing services for mental health and social support. In July and August of 2005, the training will be expanded in Botswana and additional activities will take place in Kenya. It is anticipated that these and other related efforts will continue to expand as time and resources permit.

Rex Stockton is a Chancellor’s Professor at Indiana University in the Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology. He has been involved in the field of group counseling, training, and research for more than 30 years.

In addition to being president of AAGC, Dan-Bush Bhusumane is a lecturer at the University of Botswana. He is completing his doctorate in counseling at Duquesne University. Bhusumane has extensive experience in the counseling and guidance field in Africa and has assisted with the establishment of services in numerous sub-Saharan countries.

Additional collaborators include Professors D. Keith Morran and Floyd “Flip” Robison of the Indiana University program in Indianapolis and doctoral student, Leann Terry. These individuals will contribute in the development of materials and evaluation and research procedures.

For more information, contact Rex Stockton, 201 N. Rose Avenue, Wright Building, Room 4056, Bloomington, IN 47405, or e-mail: stocktor@indiana.edu.

REFERENCES
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and World Health Organization (WHO) (2004). AIDS epidemic update: December 2004. Retrieved December 12, 2004, http://www.unaids.org/wad2004/ report_pdf.html.