Personal construct therapy for HIV seropositive patients.

Abstract

We regret that Larry Stillson, since his contribution to this project, has died of AIDS-related illness. We mourn him and dedicate this article to his memory.The work was funded by N.H. & M.R.C./C.A.R.G. and the New South Wales Department of Health. Our colleagues Levinia Crooks, Rachael Henry, and Beverly Walker have helped us clarify our ideas. We would like also to thank the organizations that made access to patients possible, together with the patients, themselves, for their thoughtful and brave contributions to this article.

Anxiety in community-based AIDS caregivers before and after personal construct counseling

“…In it experiments can be conducted to test the construct system of the client (Kelly, 1955). Personal construct counseling has been shown to reduce anxiety levels effectively (Viney, Clarke, Bunn, & Benjamin, 1985;Winter, 1992) and to be helpful with people affected by AIDS (Viney, Allwood, & Stillson, 1991, 1992Viney, Allwood, Stillson, & Walmsley, 1992).…”

Layers of Grief: Counseling the Seropositive Gay Male

“…In addition , the issue of the death of friends from the disease is all too real for the gay community. Many have lost friends and loved ones to the disease, have contracted the virus themselves , are caregiving for someone who is seropositive, or any combination of the three (Viney, Allwood , Stillson , & Walmsley, 1992). Just when support is needed, friends and family may abandon the person with AIDS (Tross & Hirsch , 1988) possibly having learned of the sexual orientation for the first time when learning the diagnosis (Carr, 1989).…”

“…Personal construct therapy attempts to help the client refine his world view which, in turn, will help him interpret and understand these crises. Viney et al (1992) propose that these world views are ever-changing, and that cognition and affect are equally important aspects of this approach. Specific strategies include helping the client explore existing constructs and their extremes, encouraging the clients to explore emotions associated with AIDS and impending deaf, challenging narrow or myopic constructs, and uncovering the role of the client in developing and maintaining these constructs, and uncovering the role of the client in developing and maintaining these constructs.…”

“…Two such alternative models, personal construct therapy and psychosocial model of HfV infection, provide culturally-sensitive options, with some degree of efficacy, to help crisis workers and clients deal with the special issues of AIDS and chronic loss and grief. Downloaded by [Australian National University] at 12:03 31 May 2016 Viney et al (1992) apply constructivist assumptions of personal construct therapy for clients working through the pain and grief associated with AIDS. Many gay men seek counseling to deal with the crisis of being HIV-positive.…”

Cognitive therapy for clients newly diagnosed as HIV-positive.

“…The client Cognitive Therapy forHIX'-Positive Clients may need to make sense of the diagnosis or find an explanation for why it occurred. He/she may need to construct a belief system which incorporates the diagnosis in a way that does not lead to chronic despair (Viney, Allwood, Stillson, & Walmsley, 1992). The therapist can provide assistance with this task.…”