The AIDS Prevention Center held a training course for Capital Health Development Research Project
From February 25 to 28 , 2025 , the AIDS Prevention and Control Center of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention and Beijing You'an Love Home jointly held a "quasi-professional counselor" training course in Beijing. Trevor A. Hart , professor of psychology and director of the HIV prevention department at Toronto Metropolitan University in Canada, was specially invited to provide professional guidance to the trainees. The training aims to enhance the mental health intervention capabilities of peer educators for HIV- positive men who have sex with men (MSM), focusing on cultivating professional skills such as motivational interviewing.
At the opening ceremony, Liu Yufen, deputy director of the AIDS Prevention Center of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, pointed out that this training is not only an important step in promoting the progress of the project, but also a key link in improving the mental health intervention capabilities of HIV-positive MSM. Shan Duo, deputy director of the Comprehensive Prevention and Policy Office and project leader, interpreted the project plan and hoped that the trainees would provide better psychological support to the target population through systematic learning. Twelve key personnel from institutions such as Beijing Youan Love Home participated in the training.
Professor Hart systematically analyzed how to use open-ended questions to build trust, how to capture psychological dynamics through reflective listening, and how to stimulate motivation through affirmation and summary through a combination of theoretical teaching and practical operation. Through practical sessions such as stress exercises, decision-making balance exercises, and key problem drills, the trainees mastered tools such as risk level assessment and confidence scale application, which helped the trainees to more accurately assess and support the psychological health of the target population.
Trainees said that the training content closely matched the actual work needs, which not only deepened their understanding of the mental health problems of HIV-positive MSM, but also significantly improved their counseling skills. The training deepened the communication and cooperation between domestic and foreign experts, and also laid the foundation for promoting psychological and behavioral intervention strategies among MSM in the future.
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