Individual discussions
Positiiviset offers individual discussions alone with a staff member. When you are diagnosed with HIV and start a new medication, or when there is some kind of change in your life situation, you may feel the need to discuss these issues confidentially with people other than your infectious disease doctor and nurse. You don’t need to be in a crisis to contact us. We are happy to chat with anyone living with HIV.
We can arrange individual discussions with our staff members by scheduling a personal meeting. We can also arrange a telephone meeting or a remote meeting via the internet or arrange a face-to-face meeting elsewhere at a location convenient for you. Staff members are also available in Tampere, Oulu and Turku on the days when peer meetings are held in these cities. Check the event calendar for the dates of the meetings.
We are a community-based organisation. The services we provide are designed by people living with HIV themselves, and our operations are strongly volunteer-driven. The services are free of charge and membership of the organisation is not required for the services. You can always contact us anonymously. There will be no record of the visits or the content of the discussions in any healthcare registers. The meetings are based on trust.
In a more serious mental health crisis, contact your care provider, your local health centre or, in urgent cases, the national crisis helpline. The English-language helpline is available on Fridays from 9 am to 1 pm at +358 9 2525 0116. You can call the helpline anonymously and confidentially.
Support persons
You can get a support person from Positiiviset. Support persons are trained, volunteer members of Positiiviset, and generally have first-hand experience of living with HIV, either as living with HIV themselves or being close to them. Our support person activities are based on equal and voluntary partnership.
You can get support either by phone or in person. A support person is there to listen to you and accompany you in a challenging life situation. Usually, the number of meetings is between one and five. The start of a support relationship is always agreed with a staff member.
Support persons are bound by confidentiality. When you want to talk about HIV with another person living with HIV, a support person is the safest and best person to talk to. Don’t be alone with HIV; feel free to contact us!
Support person activities are managed by a peer support coordinator and a community worker. You can find their contact information here.
Sexual counselling
We offer free sex counselling primarily to people living with HIV and/or their partners. In addition, free counselling is also offered to people who are experiencing HIV-related challenges in expressing their sexuality. You can take an HIV test as part of the counselling.
What is sexual counselling?
Sexual counselling helps manage various situations related to sexuality and sex life. Sexual counselling usually consists of 2–5 meetings and is provided by a professional trained as a sex counsellor. You can come alone or with a partner.
Sexuality and sexual needs change over time. A change in life circumstances, such as an HIV diagnosis, can affect your sexuality and sex life. It may then be a good idea to reassess your situation with a sexual counsellor.
During counselling, you can discuss and reflect on HIV-related issues and the possible effects of HIV on your sexuality. During a sexual counselling session, you can discuss the matter alone or with your partner or partners. The discussions are confidential.
Seeking sexual counselling
You should seek sexual counselling if you have a sexuality-related question that is bothering or disturbing you. If something is interfering with your sexual well-being, it is better to talk about it than to be left alone with the issue. Sexual counselling clients each come with their own unique questions. Every question is important.
We offer counselling in person, remotely and over the phone. Please feel free to contact us. You can find the contact information for the sexual counsellors working with Positiiviset ry HivFinland here.