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Hearing Voices’ {Groups } Facilitating ‘Hearing Voices’ {Groups } Voices Vic – Prahran Mission Uniting Care This is one section reproduced from the book “Doing it Together. A collection} of approaches, experiences and purposes of an in Groups, Committees, Organisations, Networks and Movements”. A resource of www.ourconsumerplace.com.au } { a collection of approaches, experiences and purposes of and in DOING IT TOGETHER… { 121 } Groups, Committees, Organisations, Networks and Movements { Facilitating ‘Hearing Voices’ Groups Values and historical basis ‘Hearing voices’ groups emerged as Professor Marius Romme and Dr Sandra Escher found that many people hear voices without distress or feeling the need to seek mental health services. They interviewed many ‘voice hearer’s – those coping and those being in distress and those with a diagnosis. They found that coping ‘voice hearers’ have negative and to learn new coping skills. different skills, beliefs and supports compared Voices Vic has run Hearing Voices Groups since to those who live with often extreme distress. 2005 and is proud to support other organisations, People coping well with voices had: across Victoria, to create opportunities for • Higher self-esteem collaboration and recovery; we work in partnership with other Hearing Voices Networks in Australia • An explanatory framework for the voices and overseas. Our groups were created as a • Ease when discussing the voices with others response, to the growing understanding that shaming people who hear voices doesn’t enable • Ability to more often communicate with the them to live decent lives. Forcing a label on a voices person, or forcing him/her to agree that they • More social and supportive connections have a mental illness and that there’s no cure isn’t helpful and certainly does not give any • Ability to set limits with the voices hope to thrive, which is why 70.9% of people, diagnosed with psychosis have inadequate and • Ability to selectively listen to the voices unsustainable recovery outcomes. ‘Voices hearers’ • Know-how in addressing past traumas and lives become full of repeated hospitalisations, emotional difficulties. loss of personal freedoms (involuntary treatment), powerful medications, debilitating side-effects of According to Marius Romme “Many voices can psychiatric medicines (obesity, diabetes, tardive be unthreatening and even positive. It’s wrong dyskinesia…), reduced life expectancy, frequent to turn this into a shameful problem, which fear and distress, social isolation, unemployment people either feel they have to deny or to take and extensive poverty, unsafe or unstable medication to suppress.” Many ‘voice hearers’ who housing, stigma and discrimination, suffer greatly from their voices, do not readily pervasive hopelessness. get all their needs met by psychiatric services; specialised Hearing Voices Groups aim to support Hearing Voices Groups fill a void in the services voices hearers who want to understand and work other groups offer; it is a human need to have with their voices,{ whether they are positive or conversations, about what is happening or } { 122 } DOING IT TOGETHER…{ www.ourconsumerplace.com.au felt to be going on in one’s life. There is also Starting a group in your community a strong need in humans to be heard, to gain some kind of understanding, connection and Starting a Hearing Voices Group does take some validation when talking about feelings, beliefs organising, as well as tenacity, understanding and circumstances. For people who hear voices, and/or training in the voice hearing experience, these needs are no different; after all, voice empathy and commitment. At Voices Vic, we have hearing is a normal human experience and two facilitators, one of whom at least is a ‘voice understanding that a person’s voices are real is hearer.’ Groups transition to being facilitated by essential to giving him/her enough respect to ‘voice hearers’ only. Our experience is that well- live a decent life and connect well with his/her working groups meet weekly; group members community. Acknowledging that the voices are are not expected to turn up every week, so real and building relationships with them are key sometimes as many as 25 different people will components of a Hearing Voices Group. attend a group over the period of a year, but not all at once. In our experience, anywhere from 3 to In Hearing Voices Groups, all beliefs are accepted 12 members can work well as a group. based on the diversity of humanity and its various cultures and contexts and individual needs. The It is up to the group to decide whether to make beauty of Hearing Voices Groups is in sharing that the group a closed group, or not. There are a diversity, allowing for people to say what works number of Hearing Voices Groups that are closed, and doesn’t work for them when trying to cope mostly in hospital out-patients settings. The with their voices. Speaking in first-person terms middle of the week is a good day for a group to and acknowledging one’s own beliefs, rather than meet (so support is available next day) and it’s using second- or third-person modes to describe best not to run groups too early or too late in the someone else’s experience, allows people to day (4pm – 6pm or 1pm - 3pm often works well). speak their own truth and avoid imposing on Groups generally run for about 1½ hours, followed another’s belief. by socialising (30 minutes at a coffee shop). Meetings are best held in the community, a library, Groups recognise that ‘voice hearers’ are experts a neighbourhood house or community hall rather in their own experience and that recovery is not than a mental health service. necessarily the absence of voices, but the ability to live a meaningful life with minimal distress. It is really important to provide a safe place for Groups need to be safe and inclusive spaces, ‘voice hearers’ to get together, so that they can in which ‘voice hearers’ can share experiences, explore their voice hearing experiences. When learn new ways to understand, cope and live looking at potential meeting places think about: and create a powerful sense of hope and • What is the space we want to create? possibility. Hundreds of Hearing Voices Groups exist around the world, in which ‘voice hearers’ • What does the space do for ‘voice-hearers’; for support each other to make meaningful recoveries people? on their own terms. } DOING IT TOGETHER…{ www.ourconsumerplace.com.au { 123 } • What’s on walls? (This is important when process. A key part to this role is to magnify the environment is a non-specific space, the voices of people who are not normally such as a library.) listened to, by emphasising the belief that each person in the group has a deep wisdom • Time of day the space is available? and expertise about ways of managing and (Think about effects of medication dealing with problems.” and other issues such as night travel.) The group offers an opportunity to develop skills, When deciding on who will facilitate, bear in mind beliefs and supports, as well as to explore and that a greater connection and understanding understand voice hearing experiences. Its focus exists between people with similar experiences; is on social inclusion, also acting as a support ‘voice hearers’ have been often experienced network. The facilitator’s role is to create a safe severe discrimination, for talking about their space, to explore voice hearing amongst peers, experiences, by those who don’t hear voices. to draw out experiences, enable discussions, That’s why having a facilitator, with lived- while providing validation and normalisation, experience, can mean the difference between with the group holding the wisdom. some ‘voice hearers’ being able to speak or or The normalisation of the voice hearing not at all. Trust can take a long time to grow experience, for the ‘voice hearer,’ is an in a group where the facilitator does not hear extremely powerful experience, voices. If you think about a women’s group being often beginning the recovery journey. facilitated by a man, or cancer survivor group being facilitated by someone who has never People who hear voices, generally have been experienced cancer… you’ll recognise the strong made to feel ashamed and afraid of themselves; need, for at least, one facilitator with lived- their core-beliefs have been vilified, their experience. So there is a preference for having personality has been called “disordered” and a ‘voice hearer’ to facilitate a group, rather than “diseased”. It’s a lot for a ‘non-voice hearer’ to someone who just has some other experiences understand, because so much of what a voice and good empathy/listening skills, but who hearer has tried to talk about previously has cannot really relate to voice hearing; Voices Vic, been shut down and declared to be nonsense. however, does not have a strict rule on this. It is wonderful when people, who don’t hear voices, make an effort to understand, be open Developing and Communication within and willing to listen and recognise what is the Group needed: a willingness to learn, without Band-Aid- methods and bigotry creeping in. For instance, In the words of Jacqui Dillon (chair of the UK telling someone they “don’t make sense”, is a Hearing Voices Network): judgemental phrase that doesn’t enable a person to communicate, rather aggravating his/her “The aim of the group facilitator is to lead despair. Instead, a facilitator should try to find by listening. This means that, wherever out what does make sense, or admit needing possible, the group as a collective makes {extra help in understanding what was meant. decisions about direction, activities, changes, etc. It is the facilitator’s role to enable this } { 124 } DOING IT TOGETHER…{ www.ourconsumerplace.com.au The impulse for facilitators to solve a problem or the individual experiencing it; there are, however, rescue someone in distress is well-meant – but in many similar experiences and opinions that ‘voice a voice hearing group, experiences are shared and hearers’ find useful to have discussions about.
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