Five African American women employed at a Florida clinic that serves low-income clients in a predominantly African American neighborhood were interviewed and observed for more than a year. The interviews and observations revealed that, although none of the five women was a licensed counselor, all of them manifested qualities often associated with the profession of counseling. The five women counseled their adult patients in parenting and other problems, helped discipline patients' children, communicated with patients in "their own language," and collaborated to serve and meet the practical needs of patients and patients' families through services provided at the clinic and community center in which it is located. All of the women were actively involved in the church and relied on it as an educational institution and provider of moral and spiritual support, and they all used the "strategy" of situating their patients in a supporting network of which the church and clinic are critical links. It was recommended that educators adopt/adapt the educational techniques and tools used by the five women when dealing with students of backgrounds similar to those of the clinic's patients. (Contains 11 references.) (MN)