Living in the Face of Trauma (LIFT): An Intervention for Coping With HIV and Trauma is a group intervention that focuses on improving the coping abilities of individuals–women of any sexual orientation and men who have sex with men–who have HIV and a history of childhood sexual abuse. LIFT promotes better health protective decisionmaking with the goals of reducing the symptoms of traumatic stress and the risk of transmitting HIV, as well as the risk for substance abuse, a common experience among these populations.
LIFT therapists use a cognitive behavioral approach to help clients develop and maintain healthy relationships and protective health behaviors such as substance use reduction, protected sexual intercourse, increased patient-provider communication, and HIV treatment adherence. Since a key element of the intervention is to provide a supportive and safe treatment environment, LIFT groups are composed of same-gender clients, usually with a similar sexual orientation.