The paper contains the principles of prophylactic counseling in patients with risk factors for chronic noncommunicable diseases that are a major cause of adult disability and death in Russia. It considers the conceptual basis for effective prophylactic counseling, which aims at creating a physician-patient partnership in the long-term control of the risk of diseases caused by behavioral risk factors. The prophylactic counseling is defined as a combination of three components: patient awareness; patient motivation to change his/her attitude towards health; and learning to improve behavioral habits and stereotypes. The benefit of prophylactic group counseling (schools for patients) is emphasized as a technology ensuring social communication and support during patient education. The paper describes the differences and advantages of address prophylactic (behavioral) counseling over health education, directs attention to the importance of the specific features of the attitude of a patient towards health, behavioral risk factors, his disease appreciation, concept of life values, understanding of his role in the treatment of diseases and the control of their risk to be taken in account during such counseling and presents tactics for effective prophylactic counseling in relation to the traits of the patient. Particular significance is nowadays attached to the problem of effective prophylactic counseling; counseling technologies are included as essential components of medical in the new schemes of follow-up and prophylactic medical examination of the adult population.