Addressing HIV in Psychotherapy

Guest editors Stephanie Budge and David Pantalone share key takeaways from the March 2020 special issue of Psychotherapy, which addresses how clinicians navigate psychotherapy interventions for clients with HIV.

What is the special issue about?

This special issue focuses on psychotherapy interventions for people with HIV. We specifically sought clinically focused articles and research articles.

For the clinical articles, we asked authors to include specific clinical exchanges that offer a unique look at how clinicians navigate psychotherapy interventions for clients with HIV. We sought research articles that viewed HIV through an intersectional lens and provided in-depth knowledge on interventions for clients with HIV.

What is the significance of the issue?

People with HIV continue to face significant bias. Many therapists know little about HIV and have no training in working with people with HIV.

Additionally, psychotherapy research primarily focuses on behavioral change and does not usually attend to the therapeutic relationship or other process factors, which we contend are important components of working with people with HIV.

Tell us about a few key takeaways.

Therapists need a greater understanding of the sociocultural context related to HIV and should use an intersectional approach with working with clients with HIV.

What are some practical implications of the articles featured in the issue?

We required authors to include clinical exchanges in the clinical articles. This allows practitioners to see what clinical work with clients with HIV may look like and gives practical information for therapists to follow regarding language and context for client concerns.

The articles focus on ethical decision-making and how to consider the whole person in dealing with people with HIV.

Note: This article is in the Clinical Psychology topic area. View more articles in the Clinical Psychology topic area.

Stephanie L. Budge, PhD, (she/her/hers), is an associate professor in counseling psychology and is also the director of the Advancing Health Equity and Diversity (AHEAD) program in the School of Medicine and Public Health at University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her research focuses on psychotherapy interventions to assist transgender and nonbinary youth and adults to cope with minority stress experiences. In addition, she also researches the effectiveness of medical interventions in reducing distress for transgender and nonbinary people.

David Pantalone, PhD, is professor of psychology and director of the doctoral program in clinical psychology at the University of Massachusetts Boston, as well as a behavioral scientist at The Fenway Institute of Fenway Health, also in Boston. His work has focused primarily on behavioral intervention development for improving mental health and HIV-related health behaviors of the populations most affected by the U.S. HIV epidemic, especially sexual minority men.