[Psychotherapy in AIDS]

Infection with human immunodeficiency virus creates the expectation of terrible disease marked by an inexorable physical decline. The majority of the affected patients are relatively young and pleasure plays an important role in their lives which will be marked by the possibility of an early death. This is a peculiar situation with an unpredictable evolution that mandates a reformulation of the psychotherapeutic approach mainly in the achievable goals and the practical way to manage them. We describe our two years psychiatric and psychotherapeutic experience with AIDS patients followed by the H.S.M. Infectious Diseases Department.