“Our voice as a legacy”: Trauma, resilience, and post-traumatic growth among people living with long-term HIV

There is limited empirical research into the experiences of people diagnosed with HIV in the era before antiretroviral therapy (ART) was introduced and who are living with long-term HIV. Positive psychological insights into coping can inform clinicians working with clients from this population. Eight people in the United Kingdom were interviewed regarding their experiences of living with long-term HIV. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to analyze the data. Participants described their experiences of individual and collective trauma but also how they used these experiences to derive resilience and post-traumatic growth. Two superordinate generalized experiential themes were developed: Coping through education, learning, and reflection and Relationships. Subordinate experiential themes included the significance of being the educator and the provision of education, meaning-making, self-reflection and learning, as well as both community belonging and connection and the careful management of HIV disclosure in relationships.