Review of Counselling Services in the Pacific Final Report Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development March 2017 Review of Counselling Services in the Pacific Preferred citation: Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (2017), Review of Counselling Services in the Pacific Final Report, Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development. For further information about this report, please contact: Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development Website: www.pacificwomen.org Email: [email protected] March 2017 Published in March 2017. Every effort was taken to ensure information included in this publication was correct at time of printing. Ⓒ Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development 2017. All rights reserved. Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development is an initiative of the Australian Government. Pacific Women i Review of Counselling Services in the Pacific Acknowledgements The evaluators wish to acknowledge the support of Nilesh Goundar, Program Manager of the Australian High Commission in Fiji, for his contribution to and cooperation with this review. Linda Petersen and Tara Chetty of the Pacific Women Support Unit played an invaluable role in facilitating the review. Thanks also to Nicolette Solomon of Cardno for support with the logistical requirements. Leaine Robinson and Patricia Fred, Program Managers of the Australian High Commission in Fiji and Vanuatu, spent hours organising the in-country visits and a wide range of meetings. To colleagues at the Vanuatu Women’s Centre (in Port Vila, Santo and Tafea), Empower Pacific, the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre, Lifeline and Medical Services Pacific – thank you for hosting our visits and sharing your views. Finally, we are grateful to all those external stakeholders and counsellors who took time to answer our many questions and share their views with us. Iris Trapman and Keryn Clark Pacific Women ii Review of Counselling Services in the Pacific Contents Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................ vii 1 Introduction and Purpose of the Review .................................................................................. 1 2 Methodology ................................................................................................................................ 2 2.1 Desk review ...................................................................................................................... 2 2.2 Self-assessment questionnaire ........................................................................................ 2 2.3 Interviews and In-country visits ........................................................................................ 3 2.4 Limitations ........................................................................................................................ 4 3 Findings ....................................................................................................................................... 4 3.1 Legislative and policy frameworks for counselling services ............................................. 4 3.2 Range of counselling services ......................................................................................... 6 3.3 Reach and access to counselling services .................................................................... 10 3.4 Service delivery models and specific components ........................................................ 13 3.5 Quality assurance of counselling services ..................................................................... 17 3.6 Gaps in counselling services .......................................................................................... 23 3.7 Counselling education, training providers, qualifications and certification ..................... 25 4 Lessons learned ........................................................................................................................ 29 4.1 What factors have contributed to the success of counselling services in the Pacific? .. 29 4.2 What are the barriers to the success of counselling services in the Pacific? ................ 30 4.3 Successful models and approaches .............................................................................. 31 5 Recommendations .................................................................................................................... 32 Annex 1 Overview of Services Matrix ........................................................................................... 36 Annex 2 People Interviewed .......................................................................................................... 40 Annex 3 Focus Group Discussion Participants .......................................................................... 42 Annex 4 Consultancy Plan Review of EVAW Counselling Services in the Pacific .................. 44 Annex 5 Counselling Services in Pacific Region Self-Assessment Survey ............................. 55 Annex 6 List of Trainer Providers used by survey respondents ............................................... 62 Annex 7 Prevalence Studies Undertaken in the Pacific ............................................................. 63 Annex 8 Summary of Domestic Violence Legislative Clauses relating to Counselling Services ........................................................................................................................... 64 Annex 9 Review Terms of Reference ............................................................................................ 68 Pacific Women iii Review of Counselling Services in the Pacific Tables and Figures Table 1 Desk review summary ......................................................................................................... 1 Table 2 Self-assessment questionnaire – summary ........................................................................ 3 Table 3 Summary of legislation against family and sexual violence ................................................ 5 Table 4 Service delivery models .................................................................................................... 13 Table 5 Examples of training providers and curricula .................................................................... 26 Figure 1 Types of organisations providing counselling ..................................................................... 7 Figure 2 Counselling services by population group .......................................................................... 7 Figure 3 Types of counselling services provided .............................................................................. 8 Figure 4 Service provider counsellor numbers................................................................................ 10 Figure 5 Women survivors of violence who never seek assistance ............................................... 12 Figure 6 Other services for survivors of violence ............................................................................ 14 Figure 7 Counselling experience and training by provider .............................................................. 19 Figure 8 Counselling years' experience (by organisation) .............................................................. 19 Figure 9 Approaches used by counselling providers ...................................................................... 22 Pacific Women iv Review of Counselling Services in the Pacific Abbreviations AIPC Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors CAVAW Committee against Violence against Women DFAT Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia) EVAW Ending Violence against Women FGD Focus Group Discussion HIV Human Immunodeficiency Virus LGBTQI Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender, Queer and Inter-Sex PNG Papua New Guinea UNICEF United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund WHO World Health Organisation Pacific Women v Review of Counselling Services in the Pacific Glossary Terms Definition Basic Counselling The provision of a set of primary and essential counselling skills. These skills can be described as: empathy and unconditional positive regard (respect without judgement); supportive listening and questioning skills; the ability to establish trust, and explore issues and needs; and encouragement to make decisions. Skilled Counselling Differs from basic counselling in that it includes additional abilities: the ability to reflect, make skilled observations, use effective questioning, facilitate coping mechanisms, summarise goals and priorities, conduct risk assessments, support the development of an action plan, and provide further guidance. Additionally, skilled counsellors can choose to apply specific therapeutic interventions if they have been trained in them. Examples are cognitive behaviour strategies, trauma focused interventions, solution focused therapy, or a combination of various therapeutic approaches. Skilled Refers to the use of additional techniques; it does not refer to the quality of the counselling, which varies from counsellor to counsellor, both basic and skilled. Counselling Refers to both basic and skilled counselling. Case Management1 A process where the needs of the client are assessed and access to a package of services is advocated for, coordinated, monitored and evaluated. Case management is not counselling itself, but in the Pacific context, it is typically undertaken by people (counsellors, social workers, community outreach workers) who conduct counselling. Counselling Service Organisations