Herpes simplex virus (HSV) is one of the most common yet misunderstood sexually transmitted infections, often framed through a deficit-based lens emphasizing stigma, fear, and distress. This presentation issues a strengths-based call to action; reimagining HSV prevention, treatment, and care as opportunities to foster resilience, agency, and self-compassion among patients and providers.

Drawing from two complementary studies, the presentation will highlight how individuals living with HSV demonstrate strength, empathy, and adaptability while calling on healthcare providers to improve stigma-informed care, patient engagement, and normalization of HSV in sexual health communication. The first study, based on qualitative interviews with healthcare providers across New York State, explores how clinicians navigate patient anxiety and misinformation following a diagnosis. Providers emphasized empathetic communication, reframing herpes as a manageable and common condition, and using trust-building dialogue to reduce stigma, underscoring how affirming, person-centered clinical encounters can model best practices in care. The second study, a national survey of over 1,000 adults living with HSV, identifies trends in disclosure behaviors, treatment practices, and mental well-being. Many respondents reported proactive engagement in safer sex practices, timely treatment, and open disclosure despite emotional challenges, highlighting resilience and ethical commitment. Findings also point to the need for improved educational materials, communication trainings that include communication strategies when delivering an HSV clinical diagnosis, and acknowledgment of antiviral therapy’s psychological benefits.

Together, these findings advance a reframing of HSV prevention, treatment, and care from pathology to possibility. This session will invite healthcare and public health professionals to embrace strengths-based, stigma-informed strategies.