Experience Hiv Related Stigma And Discrimination

During the 1980s and 1990s the new HIV disease began to emerge in society and with it came harsh stereotypes and discrimination against those who contracted it. Simultaneously, one of the most talented and influential point guards in basketball was dominating the sport: Earvin “Magic” Johnson. Throughout his career Johnson gained three Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards and was admitted into the Basketball Hall of Fame (“Magic Johnson”). However, on November 7, 1991, Johnson announced his diagnosis of HIV and his retirement from the National Basketball Association (NBA). Following this abrupt and unexpected event, Johnson became one of the leading figures in the fight against AIDS. The Magic Johnson Foundation was founded and is still dedicated to educating communities about AIDS. The charitable and influential work Johnson contributed to the research of AIDS revealed him as not just an extraordinary basketball player but also as an extraordinary human being (“Magic Johnson”). A few years after Johnson’s diagnosis, he released his autobiography, My Life. My Life describes the childhood and competitive basketball years of Johnson as well as his announcement of contracting HIV. In the article, “New and Noteworthy Paperbacks”, by Laurel Graeber, reviewer Harvey Araton describes Magic Johnson’s autobiography, My Life, as “best when he shares his insights about his coaches and fellow players” (Graeber). The article has positive things to say about Johnson’s autobiography such

The African American community presumed HIV/AIDS exist only among Gay white males and treatment is specific to this population. This concept changed when the rates of HIV/AIDS infections arbitrarily increased among low income African Americans (i.e. those with different social experience, the gay, the bi-sexual men, the unemployed and the poor families). The stigma of being discriminated against by

The first step would have involved the counsellor to create a psychological contact with Felicia. The second step within the process would be the counsellor needs to ensure that Felicia is in a state of incongruence. Incongruence is the difference of the client’s self-image and actual experience. If Felicia’s self-image and actual experiences don’t match it could lead her to feeling vulnerable and create anxiety. On the other hand, the counsellor needs to be congruent. This would mean the counsellor will be himself 100%. This will involve the counsellor being honest and transparent of who they are and not putting up a façade. The counsellor should show unconditional positive regard (UPR) to Felicia. Unconditional positive regard is the counsellor accepting and supporting the client without judging them. The fifth condition the counsellor should actively use would be empathy. Empathy is the skill to understand another individual’s feelings. This is vital within therapy. The counsellor should be able to experience the client’s feelings without it having effect on their emotions. The final condition would be the counsellor and the client have a minimal degree understanding of

The early days of the AIDS epidemic challenged the cartesian nature of biomedical culture. With its emphasis on empiricism, the superior biomedical mind could normally make sense of the inferior patient’s bodily concerns. In the early 80s, though, the scientific method seemed to be failing with AIDS, with no clear biological etiologic agent being identified, and rumors circulated. As the biomedical mind struggled to define and categorize AIDS, the moralistic nature of medical authority revealed itself. Instead of pathology residing in the biology of a patient, it appeared to transcend the patient’s biology and reveal deviant sexual behavior. Instead of being able to treat or study the disease, the diseased bodies were quarantined. Even when it was understood that AIDS had a viral cause, biomedicine’s quarantining practices became subtler, but still perpetuated the social stigma of AIDS patients. In this essay, I examine the nature of AIDS stigma through the lens of two biomedical professionals’ memories of the first decade of the epidemic. One such professional is Dr. M. Robert Hill, M.D. He is a retired internist of 68 years, who used to work at Missouri Baptist Medical Center in Town and Country, Missouri, and treated several AIDS patients before antiretroviral therapy was discovered. The other ethnographic source is Dr. Daniel Hanson, a current Immunology lecturer at Washington University in St. Louis, who was completing his second postdoctoral fellowship in immunology at

The client session presented in class is for a twenty one year old female with a history of methamphetamine and intravenous heroin use. The client has two children under the age of five. The father reported the oldest child has developmental delays such as being one year behind grade level. The client would like to become a full time mother again once she graduates from treatment in approximately three months. The children are not placed at the facility; however, she has received overnight visits. The client is currently working her fourth Alcoholics Anonymous step with her sponsor. She reports that her sponsor “helps me be more human” as she can share some of her imperfections with someone who has successfully worked through their addiction cycle.

The optimal therapeutic alliance is achieved when both the counselor and the client come to the shared beliefs with regard to the goals of treatment and view the methods as effective and relevant (Ardito & Rabellino, 2011). Within this definition the relationship becomes a bond in which the client shares belief systems surrounding treatment goals and outcomes, rather than the concentration on conventional relationship ideology. Similar to the discussion of transference and countertransference, boundaries are established to protect the client and the counselor both inside therapeutic settings and outside of the treatment realm. In examples of clients and counselors that are involved in outside support groups, confidentiality is respected to protect the therapeutic process. In other circumstances, the counselor adheres to ethical codes and standards where by protecting the relationship by conducting meetings in a professional manner and maintaining personal information about the client as agreed upon in client consent.

In order to achieve this goal, counselors must primarily focus on establishing a therapeutic alliance, which involves building an open, empathic, and genuine relationship with clients. Forming a therapeutic alliance is important because it allows counselors to fully understand the patient’s background and perspective of their world. It also aids in identifying potential treatment paths to resolve people’s mental, emotional, and behavioral concerns. After all, “clients’ experiences and inner resources seem to be the most powerful factor in achieving change” (Seligman & Reichenberg, 2013, p.

In the 1990’s the stigma behind HIV/AIDS was heavily swayed towards the gay community. During this time, I spent my days in high school looking for ways to change the world and help people. While most of the kids my age were thinking about future plans and going to college I was thinking about ways to give back and make a difference in at least one person’s life. By my senior year I had joined a student club called Teens Taking Charge (TTC), run by our gym teacher. We were peer educators on HIV/AIDS. We provided support, held fundraisers, set up informational tables, answered questions, and participated in county wide events. There was an organization in Lancaster called AIDS Community Alliance that supported and sponsored us. As a peer educator

The speech given by Mary Fisher, delivered on August 19, 1992, presented at the Republican Party convention in Houston Texas and broadcasted live on TV worldwide, remains a speech to remember. A mother who is HIV positive after contracting it from her husband, created this speech for better understanding of HIV/AID’s. Making this speech enlightens her children and others to cease living their life in fear of being stereotyped as the people with this disease. Mary Fisher started out by stating “I want your attention, not your applause.” Proceeding soon after this statement, “The reality of AID’s is brutally clear.” This speech was exceedingly successful; HIV/AID’s continue to be a present danger in today’s society. Presenting herself as just another ordinary

Her lips stayed tightly pursed as she shook her head, “I hid it from my husband.” She didn’t tell anybody about her pregnancy until a few months in. “I didn’t want to tell anybody if I was going to lose the child. Eventually, she told her husband, and they later told her family over dinner. “It was a joyous time, but the worry that consumed my mind stayed constant. I was just starting to get my faith back, if I lost another child, it will kill my faith completely. During my nine months, I prayed relentlessly.”

Women who are pregnant seeking treatment have great motivation but they are often met with insurmountable barriers for instance the income needed for a treatment program and their own shame may be preventing them from seeking the help they so desperately need. A study

Many times the counselor is the one person in the client’s life that does not offer judgement and gives them the space to think through the issues affecting them, and the counselor can help in creating a bigger picture with the connections between the emotional, psychological, and physical problems affecting their functioning. To gain a better understanding of the connections a counselor can ask questions and present challenges, and this experience confirmed that I still struggle with my confidence in that area. Something that I believe will strengthen my ability in this aspect is to consider my intention behind it and know that the client can handle my questions and challenges, and that I do not have that much power in the room. The client does not need my protection in the room, and my protection can make the situation worse for them. The biggest element of this experimental project was the reconfirmation of we are all humans and just want to be treated with respect. We all have different experiences and identities that have formed who we are, and that does not mean that we need to treat each other differently. Instead just be a fellow human being that is there to listen, provide respect and support, and empower them to find that support both in themselves and in outside relationships so they will no longer need our

This participant also had anxiety/fear concerning her physician visits and medical condition. “He (the physician) yelled at me”, “I was in and out of the hospital eight times during my pregnancy in false labor.”, “I was in bed for three and a half weeks, could not move, could not walk, could not do nothing.”

My interview is with a very close of mine her name is Diane. Diane is the mother of two and is currently pregnant with her third child. I asked Diane to please explain to me what were the difficulties and her experiences with her first pregnancy? Diane expressed that she was exceptionally young when she had her first child. She had morning sickness consistently for the initial three months. It was very difficult for her to continue her education since she was so sick. Diane decided to drop out of high school till she brought forth her child. She experienced transportation issues to travel back and forth to her appointment. I inquired if she encountered any other experiences or complications? Was she moody, happy or sad during her pregnancy? Diane expressed that she was truly terrified and stressed all through the entire pregnancy as she had no support from the baby’s father. Likewise, her parents gave her a really hard time because she was so young and pregnant. They made her feel very uncomfortable as if she did something wrong. Through her entire pregnancy, she was depressed and very anxious. She expressed to me that she felt extremely relieved once she gave birth since she realized that the baby would love her and she would care for the baby. I inquired whether she was able to speak to a counselor regarding her depression during her pregnancy? She expressed that the health center where she was being treated gave her the support that she needed to feel more at ease with

Women, especially those in sex work or those who use drugs, are vulnerable for acquiring HIV/AIDS, and risk passing on the virus to their children through mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) (Beard et al. 2010). The stigma doesn’t only affect women who use drugs or are sex workers, but it affects women worldwide who fear the discrimination they will face, not only from the community, but also from their families, if they are HIV-positive (UNAIDS, 2007). It is for this reason that women do not get tested, do not get treated, do not take preventative measures, and especially breastfeed their children because they fear that if someone were to see them feeding their children with formula, they would be suspected of having HIV/AIDS and fear the discrimination that would follow (Rankin et al., 2005). Not only does stigma act as a barrier to many services, it also inflicts negative psychological feelings and psychosocial effect for those who are, directly or indirectly, affected by HIV/AIDS (Lin et al., 2010).