ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the development of Project HOPE, and highlights the therapeutic benefits of the program’s adolescent psychotherapy group. Project HOPE was established in 1991 and began offering confidential support groups for adolescent children, 12 to 17 years of age, who were aware of their parents’ human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) serostatus. For the adolescent who is losing a parent to acquired immune deficiency syndrome, the grieving process is shrouded in stigmatization, secrecy, and shame. The chapter also describes how group therapy parallels the individuation-separation process of adolescents whose parents are HIV-infected. It discusses the challenges of starting and implementing the program’s psychotherapy group for grieving adolescents, and clinical examples of group process and effective interventions in group leadership. The impact of the death of a parent during childhood has been extensively examined in the psychoanalytic literature. Radical change in the adolescent’s behavior after a parent’s disclosure of his or her HIV status is the most common reason for referral.
