Paradoxical interventions in counselling for people with an intractable AIDS-worry

This article has two main objectives. Firstly, consideration is given to the context in which certain individuals become convinced that they have been infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), despite repeated negative HIV antibody tests and reassurance. Secondly, it is to describe an intervention which is designed to escalate anxiety in individuals with an intractable AIDS-worry, in order to release them from their rigid and distressing beliefs. A case study is presented to illustrate this.