Practical Counseling Skills for the Pediatrician in the Indian Context

Primary care pediatricians are often faced with children and families who need more than just a consultation. Pediatricians are also the first point of contact for many children and families in distress. Hence, the decision of whether to reassure and follow them up or refer them for an evaluation and management to a mental health professional is something all pediatricians find difficult to make. In order to serve their clients well, it is necessary that pediatricians are trained to identify and manage common child psychological/psychiatric problems. They may also be called upon to break bad news, motivate families to seek treatment and motivate children to accept offered treatment. Most training courses in Pediatrics do not offer skills training in counseling, making the transition to real life practice a difficult proposition. This paper focuses on what is counseling, what situations make it necessary for pediatricians to offer counseling, the methods that can be useful and some tips to improve communication, with an emphasis on unique issues in the Indian context. Some techniques that are simple, brief and can be used by pediatricians are discussed in this paper.