An existential-phenomenological investigation into the experience of people living long-term with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)

This was an idiographic investigation capturing the first-hand experiential accounts of six participants living with HIV. The purpose of this research was to identify how, in the current economic, the scarce resources available to service providers in the field of HIV might be best allocated to their service users. Further, this research was conducted at time when we are seeing an increasing homogenisation of counselling psychology, a profession characterised by an embrace of pluralism. As such, the research aim was to further our knowledge of the lived experience of individuals living with HIV and to understand what, if anything, it can contribute to the wider counselling psychology discipline. I conducted semi-structured interviews with six participants. After I had analysed each transcript I asked each participant to look at my analysis of their respective interview and provide me with comments or suggestions to ensure I had captured their experiential accounts accurately. The data was analysed using Colaizzi’s Descriptive approach (1978), a method which facilitates a descriptive phenomenological inquiry into the unique individual experience as well as commonalities. Main themes reflected how living with HIV was actually experienced by individuals. The participants approached reported feelings of isolation, anxiety about disclosing their HIV-positive status and the stigma of having HIV. Stigma was further broken down into self-stigma, stigma by health care professionals and stigma by association.