National Guidelines on Management of Sexual Violence in Kenya

4. Core Conditions Essential to a Productive Counseling
Session
• Unconditional Positive Regard: Counselors should perceive and deal with
the survivor as s/he is while maintaining a sense of their innate dignity and
personal worth.
• Non-judgmental attitude: Counselors should not assign guilt or innocence
or a degree of survivor responsibility for causation of the problem, and
they should not make evaluative judgments about the attitudes, standards
or actions of the survivor/perpetrator.
• Genuineness or Congruence: Counselors should freely and deeply be able
to relate to survivors/perpetrators in a sincere and non-defensive way.
• Empathy: The counselor should be able to understand the client’s reactions
from the inside, with a sensitive awareness of the emotions and the situation
of the survivor. (Rogers 1967 304-311)
5. Obtaining Informed Consent
The counselor should obtain written consent from the survivor before starting
any sessions. If the survivor is below the age of 18, parental or guardians
consent is required.
6. The Counseling Environment
The room should have privacy; unauthorized people should not be able to
view or hear any aspects of the consultation. Hence, the examination room
should be a private area with walls and doors, not just curtains, to ensure
privacy. It should be clear when counseling is in process, indicated on the door
with a sign such as: “Counseling in Process: Please do not Disturb!”
Make the room friendly, comfortable and clean. There should be a small
cabinet that can be locked and secured for confidentiality where files are
stored. The room should be child-friendly with toys and other relevant play
material. Ensure that all forms (consent and case notes) are readily available.
Tissues should be made available if possible. When the survivors/perpetrators
are leaving the counseling room, please ensure you have provided them with
additional material to read as further reference.
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