The first goal of the counselling training programme was to "train 10.000 counsellors in three years".  At that time, most health workers understood counselling as a way to tell patients what to do and they did not appreciate its contribution to prevention and care.

As more people completed basic training, a critical mass of counsellors helped the health care system understand its importance. But this first generation of counsellors faced technical and administrative problems when they went back to their hospitals. Half of them did not continue their counselling service, partly because they lacked technical and administrative support.

In response, in 1996 the Department of Mental Health set up a technical centre in Chiangmai, Northern Thailand, an area with one of the highest HIV prevalence rates. The AIDS Counselling Centre for Training and Research (ACCTaR) provides technical support to counsellors in the northern region. Working with different groups, ACCTaR develops understanding of problems and practical solutions for the counselling service system and shares its knowledge with the central office of the department. One key ACCTaR programme involved PHAs help themselves.

PHAs had already been actively engaging in self-sufficiency programmes, growing their own herbs for treating common illnesses, forming self-help groups and income-generating projects, and making home visits to those who were ill. The PHAs identified counselling and group facilitation skills as areas where they needed technical support.

In response to their needs ACCTaR developed a new counselling training programme based on practical models developed by PHAs for PHAs. The PHA counselling model is more flexible in terms of timing, location of counselling and roles of counsellors than the "standard" ACCTaR model. Its most unique aspect is its combined focus on of life-style changes, meditation, and spiritual growth. The model is also applied in the care of dying PHAs.

The ACCTaR staff has benefited great deal from this collaboration because networking with PHA groups has been rewarding spiritually as well as a valuable professional learning experience.