World Aids Day - The tree that's helping my personal management and my support planning

My name is Isaac Samuels and my search for a place of acceptance for living with HIV is somewhat due to my support network which is part of my support package. In respect of my HIV status, my journey has become easier by being resilient and optimistic and accessing personalised care and a direct payment.

Today is World AIDS day and the season is also moving towards festivity with trees being sought and bought amid discussions about real or artificial, green, silver or gold and how shall we adorn them. We're surrounded by images of sparkle, tinsel and urged to be jolly. I'm not going to get 'bah humbug' and maudlin on you, I promise, but there is another way of bringing a tree into your life that might just engender positive emotions for more than 12 days and bring back the 'I' in everything you do and the way others support. After all personalisation and I statements go hand in hand'nothing about me without me'.

A tool I have adopted is the 'Tree of Life'. It is a therapeutic intervention developed in Africa by a Children's Psychologist, Ncazelo Ncube, who worked in collaboration with David Denborough of the Dulwich Centre in Australia.

It was initially designed to be used with children and young people but is now widely used with adults too, particularly with people who have experienced trauma, loss, stigmatisation and marginalisation. So, you can see how this tree might well resonate with those of us who are HIV positive, and I will remain positive on this subject.

The tree is a metaphor to help people re-tell the story of their lives, identify their strengths and abilities, hopes and dreams, reconnect with their roots and relationships and think about the 'storms of life' from a position of strength. It offers a powerful position in counteracting problem-saturated stories and gives voice to the strengths, values, hopes and dreams of participants.

With this different type of tree I can branch out. Rather than being an HIV positive sob-story?I have the ability to overturn traditional doom and gloom views by challenging discrimination and lack of understanding through talking about the positives, and ensuring my needs have been meet by asking people to listen to the inner wisdom of the lived experience of someone who has HIV.

The roots of my positive Tree of Life keep me firmly grounded in the reality of campaigning, advocacy and awareness-raising. These are fundamental to communicating with others, changing perceptions, combatting health inequalities and obtaining appropriate support.

The tree trunk allows me the time and place both to lean back and relax or to lean against for strength. The people I've met and the organisations I've been involved with are represented by the tree trunk. Being positive has enabled me to become friends with people I might never have met if I'd had a non-positive outlook. For me, every year the circle of contacts and connections in the tree trunk grows wider and stronger.

The branches and leaves signify the diverse opportunities that being HIV positive has offered me. These include amazing communities and initiatives like Re:Assure, The Vine Project (opens new window), Baseline (opens new window), the Walk for Life, NCAG and TLAP They may all point in different directions and have individual shapes but they are part of one tree and together they form a stunning canopy in full bloom that I can show others to prove to them that HIV is about living not dying.


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