Presentation from Sophie Strachan at the self-stigma round table convened by ReShape on 23/06/2015

1. Overcoming stigma through self love and
compassion
Sophie Strachan

2. What is stigma?
 Goffman (1963) “an attribute that is deeply discrediting” and the person
with the attribute is “reduced in our minds from a whole and usual
person to a tainted, discounted one”
 Parker &Aggleton (2003) - stigma is not a static process but rather one
which is constantly changing but is underpinned by power
 Swendeman et al (2006) - stigma as a layered experience
 Distinction between perceived stigma (extent to which a stigmatised
person fears/anticipates discrimination) and enacted stigma (actual
experiences)
 This allows an exploration of more subtle aspects of HIV-stigma and the
ways in which they are separate but interconnected

3. What is Discrimination?
 The ability of those with power to differentiate and label those who are
considered to be outsiders and about whom judgements may be made
 Individuals acquire the label of difference on the basis of others’
judgements
 It results and justifies unfair treatment
 Internalised stigma occurs when an individual expects the label to be
applied to them and acts as if the discrimination had already occurred

4. Why are we concerned with stigma?
 Poorer social support, poorer mental health (Logie & Gadalla,
2009),
 Lower adherence to ART (Dlamini et al, 2009)
 Barrier to accessing health care (Health and Development
Networks, 2006).
 Barrier to disclosure of HIV status (Parent/child, between sexual
partners, in families)

5. Perceived stigma
Avoidance Dimension:
Felt others were uncomfortable
Felt people avoided you
Social rejection dimension:
Feared family rejection
Feared losing friends
Shame dimension:
Felt blamed by others/ felt ashamed
Thought HIV was a punishment.

6. Self limiting beliefs
 I CAN’T accept this
 Treatment isn’t important
 I’m not worthy of love and respect
 I’ll never be accepted now I have HIV
 I’ll never be able to tell anyone
 I can no longer work
 I’m no longer able to experience sexual intimacy and a loving relationship
 I can’t trust anybody

7. Toolkit
 NLP exercise- simple sub-modality belief change
 Mindfulness practice
 Pleasant – unpleasant diary – mindfulness tools
 Affirmations
 Meeting likeminded people (peer support)

8. Simple Submodality Belief Change
 Think of a limiting belief you have about yourself
 Elicit a preferred, more empowering belief – a belief which would enable you to
do what you want to more easily
 Check the ecology of changing the belief- is it worth the cost to you? is it worth
the time its going to take? is the outcome in keeping with self?
 Think of the new desired belief, and elicit the sub modalities of how you
represent that desired belief to yourself – Visual-image check, auditory-sound
check, kinaesthetic- sensation/feeling

9. Fear based beliefs

10. Fear based beliefs

11. Impact of stigma

12. The Burden we carry

13. Sexuality, sexual pleasure and intimate
relationships

15. What is LOVE?
 Love is a special feeling that fills your heart
 Love is accepting and loving people as they are and caring about them
enough to help them do better
 Love is treating people just as you would like them to treat you, with care
and RESPECT
 Love is being trustworthy and loyal
 You can show love in a smile, a pleasant way of speaking, a thoughtful act
or a hug
 When you are being loving, you help others to feel important and happy.
They become gentler, kinder. Love is catching- it keeps spreading
 Love is treating people with special care and kindness as they mean so
much to you

16. Testimonies
The insightful, compassionate and understanding way in which Sophie was able to
reflect back to me the deep emotional pain and confusion I was feeling, has been
the most helpful to my understanding of this devastating journey I am going
through since being diagnosed HIV positive a year ago".
So powerful and necessary
Best workshop of its kind I have been too to date
It was a fantastic initiative as it exposes individuals to information around self
stigma and its impact and ways to love self, that they may not necessarily think
about otherwise.

17. Testimonies
The overcoming stigma workshop was a watershed moment for me, when I
realised shyly how far I had been stigmatising myself. I realised in the workshop
and particularly through the NLP exercise, how this self stigma had led me to hold
some negative beliefs about myself, not only in terms of my body and personal
relationships, but also around how I am in the wider world. A year after the
workshop, I am still working with the NLP exercise towards holding empowered
and positive beliefs in all areas of my life.
A significant tool was the ‘brain’ around secrecy, it really helped me understand
the depth of my fears around what other people will think about me if I disclose.

19. Thank you