People Affected with HIV: Experience of Counselling Contributes to Emotional Support

This qualitative study aimed to investigate the impact of the experience of counselling and the emotional support that it provides of people affected with HIV in Terengganu. A total of 10 people affected with HIV participated in this study, selected by purposive sampling. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews, diary entries and non-participant observations on two occasions for every participant. The data were analysed by thematic analysis in order to identify themes related to the participants’ experiences. The findings showed that the counselling sessions created opportunities for the participants to share their stories, which contributed to their feelings of being supported and understood. They also felt motivated to face their daily struggles in a more positive way. In addition, they experienced feelings of relief due to the opportunity to share their experiences with the counsellor. The feelings of being supported, understood, appreciated, motivated and relieved experienced by people affected with HIV provided them with emotional support. Implication of the findings, counselling sessions contributed to the feelings of being supported and understood, thus motivated people affected with HIV in facing their daily struggles in a more positive way.