Creative providers: Counseling and counselors in family planning and reproductive health

Abstract

This paper examines family planning and reproductive health counseling using qualitative data from four sites. Skillful counselors are creative. They improvise on counseling protocols that are never more than bare bones outlines. They also perform in a dual sense, carrying out a task and doing so in a way that engages their clients. To accomplish this, they draw on structuring resources from the wider society and culture as well as the settings in which they work. The implications of the creativity of counselors for the management and evaluation of counseling services are noted. © 2008 Carter.