Counselors’ Knowledge about HIV Transmission and Prevention

Abstract

This article presents the results of an online survey study of 80 counselors to explore counselors’ knowledge about Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) transmission, HIV prevention strategies, potentially related factors, and where counselors obtained their knowledge. Results show that approximately 90% of counselors correctly identified knowledge about HIV transmission, 68% correctly identified knowledge about HIV prevention strategies, and 64% reported receiving no education regarding HIV/AIDS in their graduate counseling programs. Implications for counselor training and professional development are discussed.

Counselors-in-Training Reactions to Clients Living with and without HIV

“…This finding supports previous research showing CITs often lack training in their graduate programs surrounding PLWHA (J. Campbell et al, 2020;Rose et al, 2015). It also updates research from a different era of HIV (e.g., Fliszar & Clopton, 1995;Hayes & Gelso, 1993) that suggests professional counselors may not be completely comfortable with clients living with HIV.…”

“…Additionally, master's level counseling trainees may enter the field having experienced little training during their graduate programs regarding HIV and its effects on clients' mental health (J. Campbell, Pietrantoni, & Miller, 2020;Rose, Sullivan, Hairston, Laux, & Pawelczak, 2015). Since the 1980s and 1990s, treatments for HIV/AIDS have improved greatly; notably, the 1996 introduction of antiretroviral therapy (ART; National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), 2012) has drastically reduced the mortality rate associated with a HIV diagnosis (Coelho et al, 2018).…”