Counseling on HIV/AIDS: theoretical background for an evidence based clinical practice

As AIDS advances in Brazil, the Ministry of Health felt the need to sensitize and to train health professionals to work with questions provoked by this infection or by the disease. The implantation of counseling centers and support serological support (CTA) arose and became the main reference in counseling. The HIV / AIDS counseling is a device used by health professionals seeking to work information, guidance, risk assessment and support in accomplish the anti-HIV serology. However, it is necessary that this strategy have theoretical and philosophical fundaments that serve to underpin the counselor's clinical practice. Therefore, this article aimed to present the main presuppositions of some psychological counseling theories and its relation to the practice of HIV/AIDS counseling. It is believed that these reflections can contribute to substantiate theoretically the professionals who perform HIV/AIDS counseling, configuring it as a device for health promotion.

Counseling; Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome; Psychological Theory