A Psychologist Shares Her Perspectives of Treating Black Women with HIV

By Matthew Wiggins

In clinics and counseling rooms across the United States, a battle is being fought. This is the battle against HIV stigma. For HIV positive Black women, this battle often determines their identities, mental and physical health, confidence, and how society perceives them.

I connected with Dr. Daniels, a psychologist who has dedicated much of her career to working with HIV positive Black women, to share her thoughts and opinions. After being informed of the HU Empower Grant, Dr. Daniels was invited to talk about what makes mental and physical HIV treatment most effective for Black women. These are words of wisdom that Dr. Daniels espoused, in the form of several quotes:

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• “As a psychologist who has been heavily focused on helping HIV positive Black women with their journey to understanding their illness, I’ve come to understand that there is a fine line between clinical expertise and compassionate understanding.”

• “Black women bear a disproportionate burden, when it comes to new HIV diagnoses in the United States. They account for 61% of these diagnoses among women, a staggering sixteen times the rate seen in White women, but this statistic is more than just numbers. It reflects the disproportionate HIV resources and care available for Black women.”

• “Race, gender, and socioeconomic status combine in the worst ways to profoundly impact health outcomes. Yet, much of the existing HIV research and standards of care treat these factors as discrete categories rather than interconnected issues. As a result, many professionals tend to overlook the complex nature of health and well-being for women of color.”

• “Too few of us recognize how race, class, and gender interact with systems of social and power relations. For Black women living with HIV, these status-based identities shape their experiences, risks, and even resilience. To effectively treat the toll on mental health that living with HIV takes on Black women, we, as professionals must address long existing disparities effectively.”

• “Creating viable pathways to care involves more than prescriptions. Patient navigators, care coordinators, and trust-building relationships between healthcare workers and patients are the most important part of garnering the trust needed to entice HIV positive Black women to power through the stigma they face and receive the care that they need. In addition to that, it’s also important to reduce wait times, monitor follow-up services, and address mental health needs.”

Reducing HIV stigma among Black women requires a multifaceted approach. Please watch this video about the journey of the Smith family.

As suggested by Dr. Daniels, for HIV care providers of all disciplines, it is equally important to have ample amounts of clinical knowledge as it to practice the active application of empathy to every patient which they treat. A disease is personified by the experiences of those who have it. Therefore, treatment should be regarded in the same way. In addition to this, since Black women already have to fight to be themselves in a constant climate of bias, institutional racism, and overarching negative perceptions, there is no existing shortcut to get rid of the stigma surrounding HIV positive Black women. The only way to dismantle this existing stigma is through the process of listening to patients and allowing them a safe place to relay their stories. When they feel comfortable enough, they can share these stories with the world and inspire a level of empathy for their human experiences that supersedes cultural norms.

For more information regarding the stigma surrounding HIV positive Black women email us at  contact@whocanyoutell.org and follow us on social media @whocanyoutell.