 Hearing Voices Network (HVN) is a national
organization in the United Kingdom committed to
helping people who hear voices and their family
members.
 The organization’s group of trustees includes voice
hearers, persons working within mental health
services, and fund-raisers.
 This organization has made contributions to the mad
movement, and can be expected to continue to do so.
 Members of the HVN receive newsletters, and
notifications about events, conferences and meetings.

 The Hearing Voices Network’s mandate can be
described as “A Way Forward.” They propose that
affected individuals should try coping without
depending on the current psychiatric system.
 That is, they should seek help outside of
systematic diagnoses and the challenges which
accompany them.

The mandate consists of the following concepts:
 “Seeing mental distress as human, and ultimately,
understandable”: this involves perceiving experiences such as
hearing voices as meaningful experiences instead of medical
symptoms.
 “Keeping the person in the driving seat”: this means giving
people the freedom to give unique meanings to their own
experiences, and make their own choices. However, having
access to information about alternatives to medication is seen
as equally important.
 “Supportive communities”: community-based approaches can
be used along with or instead of psychiatry. This concept also
emphasizes the importance of realizing the causal impact of
social factors like poverty.

 The HVN aims to:
 “Raise awareness of voice hearing, visions, tactile
sensations and other sensory experiences.”
 “Give men, women, and children who have these
experiences an opportunity to talk freely about
this together.”
 “Support anyone with these experiences seeking
to understand, learn and grow from them in their
own way.”

 “Promoting, developing and supporting self-
help groups”
 Offering training sessions for health workers
and the greater community
 Providing a telephone line that informs and
supports persons who experience hearing
voices, seeing visions and tactile sensations
 Quarterly Newsletters
 Providing a website with resources and sources
of support for community members

This section of the website offers the following:
 Detailed answers to frequently asked
questions, such as:
◦ Do I need to see a doctor?
◦ Should I take medication?
 Contact information for sources of support,
such as:
◦ Helplines (Including the Hearing Voices Network’s)
◦ Counselling or Therapy (e.g. UK Council for
Psychotherapy)
 Information about the rights of voice hearers.

This section offers information on:
 The opportunity to locate an existing group.
 The ability to set up a new group
◦ This includes Information on getting started, for
example:
 Group aim –this will be developed by group members
 Membership –questions to consider about limiting group
members based on community, gender, age, sexuality etc.
 Promotion –ideas for promoting the group, such as
distributing flyers as widely as possible, creating a YouTube
video and using various social media platforms.
 Information on finding group funding

 HVN has a two-tiered network:
1. Full membership
2. Affiliated group membership
 There are also groups that are somewhere
in the middle. These tend to include people
working in the mental health field.

Criteria For Affiliated Group Membership
 “The Group …
 Accepts that voices and visions are real experiences
 Accepts that people are not any the less for having voices and visions
 Respects each member as an expert
 Encourages an ethos of self-determination
 Values ordinary, non-professionalised language
 Is free to interpret experiences in any way
 Is free to challenge social norms
 Sanctions the freedom to talk about anything not just voices and visions
 Is a self-help group and not a clinical group offering treatment
 Focuses primarily on sharing experiences, support and empathy
 Members are not subject to referral, discharge or risk assessment
 Members are able to come and go as they want without repercussions
 Members are aware of the facilitator’s limits concerning confidentiality
 Is working towards fulfilling criteria for full membership”

Criteria For Full Group Membership
This involves all of the previously stated criteria, but in addition the group:
 “Accepts people as they are
 Makes no assumption of illness
 Is a social group not a therapy group
 Is a community to which people belong
 Upholds equality between everyone in the group including the facilitator
 Makes all the decisions collectively
 Decides on the limits to confidentiality not the facilitator
 Works out problems collectively
 Holds responsibility not the facilitator
 Members join for as long as it suits them
 Is open to people not using mental health services
 Is open to people from other geographical areas
 Does not meet within a clinical setting
 Facilitator is not under pressure to report back to anyone outside the group
 Aims to become a user-run group if it isn’t already”

 Elvis is the manager of one of 5 East London
Hearing Voices (HV) Support Groups operated
by BowHaven.

 BowHaven is a therapeutic peer lead group
that meets weekly. The group is small with 5-
6 regular members. It has been running
independently for just under one year. The
meetings are 2 hours long (11am-1pm),
there is no set agenda and the members lead
the discussion. The weekly group is
facilitated by a peer, however there is always
a staff person on site to support if necessary.
Each participant must be a member.

 There is no fee for membership, however the
person must be referred by either a Mental
Health Professional or a family doctor if they
are not connected with any mental health
supports. The work at BowHaven is
responsive to the membership and has found
that when members focus on their feelings,
self care, and grounding techniques, they
experience better self care than when they
focus on the voices.

 BowHaven is funded by local council
governments and their HV Group is funded
directly by Santander Bank. BowHaven has a
staff of 2.5 Full Time Equivalent and runs
programs Monday-Friday. BowHaven also
has a lunch program on Sunday.

 BowHaven partners with community groups
such as Legal Advice Centre who provide
information on social benefits, housing and
legal supports. They also work with
Community Options to provide Mental Health
Services. In addition, BowHaven is involved in
community outreach and public education to
raise awareness of the supports needed for
people who are hearing voices and seeing
visions.

“Hearing Voices – Coping”
 This resource promotes positive living, and offers hope for
persons to “maintain a sense of ownership” over their
visions, voices, or tactile sensations. It also includes a
reminder that these persons are not alone in their struggle.
 Recommendations include self-care strategies such as
showering regularly, and not believing what the voices say.
 The importance of awareness is emphasized. For instance:
◦ Being aware that voices often become more negative and determined
when they are confronted.
◦ Being aware of the dangers of substance abuse as a coping mechanism

“Better Sleep for Voice Hearers”
 Describes unique sleep problems experienced by persons
who have visions, hear voices, or feel sensations - Voices
can wake someone up, or keep them from falling asleep.
 General tips for improving sleep, such as avoiding naps
during the day.
 Tips for persons who hear voices, such as using ear plugs.
 Tips for persons who see visions, such as sleeping with a
night light.
 Tips for persons who feel sensations, such as gently
massaging the affected area.
 Information on what to do if you are woken up, have
nightmares, or have intrusive thoughts.

“Voices & Visions Booklet #1”
 This booklet introduces parents and other caregivers to the
concepts of voices and visions. It explains that these
experiences are likely unique for each child, and that they can
be positive or negative.
 Many children do not have problematic visual or auditory
experiences, and for those who do, there is no way to know
the exact cause. The booklet suggests that instead of asking
about the cause, it may be more helpful to ask why some
children experience voices or visions while others do not.
 It emphasizes the importance of targeting the underlying
emotions of these voices and visions, and offers tips for
supporting children, such as simply believing them.

 HVN's Visions and Voices 2 is another
booklet that aims to help guide parents
and caregivers.
 The main focus is the healing process with
a conventional recovery. This booklet
outlines the importance of being there for
the child/youth and making him/her feel
normal as possible.

 The booklet suggests
the following steps to
recovery:
1. Identify the problem
2. Identify and build on
strengths
3. Work together with
the child to seek a
solution
 It provides helpful
guidelines and tips,
acknowledging that
children may be feeling an
unusual experience with
strange voices or seeing
things that are not seen or
heard by others.
 It provides parents with
techniques to guide the
child to cope better with
the issue, leading to a
successful recovery.

 This report offers a description for a psychological
take on experiences known as psychosis or
schizophrenia.
 It assures readers that many people hear voices and
experience feelings of paranoia, and that these can
be responses to “trauma, abuse, or deprivation.” It
also highlights that these problems can be
conceptualized in more than one way. That is, they
do not have to be thought of as “symptoms of mental
illnesses, paranoia or schizophrenia,” and that
professionals should not force this idea onto
individuals.
Understanding Psychosis and Schizophrenia

 The report states that paranoid feelings and
voices heard, as well as coping mechanisms, are
unique to each person.
 It emphasizes the importance of services that
provide persons with the opportunity to share
detailed accounts of their experiences and make
sense of them. The report also highlights the
dangers of ‘antipsychotic’ medications, the lack of
evidence to support that they correct “an
underlying abnormality,” and states that
psychological therapies can be very helpful.
Understanding Psychosis and Schizophrenia

 Other resources provided on the HVN website:
◦ Videos on personal experiences
◦ Links to:
 Hearing voices networks and groups
 International hearing voices networks
 Other related sites
 Writings on personal experiences

 Psychiatry and psychiatric institutions in
England had a reputation of being abusive as
well as warehousing some of the most
vulnerable people. It was not until the 1970s
that these institutions began to close due
largely to the work of anti-psychiatry
movements, expert patients with various
forms of patient advocacy. It is organizations
such as Hearing Voices Network (HVN) that
continue that work today.
The Past

 Historically, organizations like HVN have been
at the centre of shifting the way in which mad
people are treated by humanizing their
experiences. Their message is that the voices
and visions people experience are real and
that message is expressed in plain everyday
language so that it does not exclude and
oppress people further.
HVN Paves the Way

 One of the most impactful
contributions that the Hearing Voices
Network (HVN) has made towards the
Mad movement was their massive
one-day event.
◦ The HVN brought together 17 other
organizations to give an understanding of
what needs to change in the mental
health industry as well as what efforts can
be made to make a difference and better
the lives of suffering individuals.
◦ By organizing this event, the Hearing
Voices Network demonstrated that they
are not operating as a sole business
looking to make a profit from yearly
membership fees; rather they work to
create worldly awareness about Mad
Issues as a whole.

 In addition to the event that the HVN hosts, they promote
large amounts of research participation opportunities on
their website.
 Multiple Universities have proposed to advertise their
studies on the HVN website, leading to growing exposure
and understanding of Mad people and their thoughts.
 Some studies include:
◦ “The role of adverse experiences and early relationships in
psychosis”- Lancaster University
◦ “Self-compassion, mindfulness and distressing voices” and
“Pathways to unusual sensory perceptions” – University of
Liverpool
 By using an established website to promote research,
these studies are getting extremely large amounts of
exposure, leading to an increase in knowledge about
mental health, removing the stigma of ignorance that
many possess.

 Although The Hearing
Voices Network is active
in creating newsletters
and organizing events,
their greatest
contribution lies directly
within their website.
Their forum page
provides members the
opportunity to post
about their experiences
with hearing voices and
allows them to help and
relate to each other.
This is the
organization’s greatest
asset.

 “Without the Hearing Voices Network and my local
group, I really don’t think I’d be here. I feel very lucky
to be alive” – Rai
 “It gives me some hope” – Donna Robinson
 The multiple forms and testimonial pages on the site
create an open and accepting environment for mental
health survivors and shows that they are not alone in
their strenuous journeys.
 These efforts have resulted in an astounding 5,000 +
posts from over 1,600 members of the Hearing
Voices Network.

 The Hearing Voices Organization received
much success with hosting a free event in April
which brought together individuals and
organizations who are concerned and looking
for information regarding the reactions of
trauma.
 Due to the positive feedback, they decided to
follow up with a working group at the end of
September. With the full report and the positive
testimonies of those who attended, it seems
that the event may become a regular
occurrence on the organization’s agenda.

 Recently published on their events forum is a research
request in which they are interested in collecting stories
about the experience of voice hearing for young people.
The research is currently underway and it will be interesting
to see what kind of insight and theoretical framework they
will gather from the research.
 The 7th World Congress of Hearing Voice meeting will be
held November 5th, 2015 in Madrid. The organization will
be in attendance, and the meeting will address those who
are impacted by voice hearing.
 The first “Voices & Visions” booklet stated that it was the
first of four. Therefore, we can expect two more booklets
to be available in the future.

 (n.d.). In Hearing Voices Network. Retrieved from http://www.hearing-voices.org/
 Better Sleep for Voice Hearers (2012). In Hearing Voices Network. Retrieved from
http://www.hearing-voices.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/York-Sleep-
Booklet_web.pdf
 Voices & Visions #1: A straight talking introduction for parents and carers of children
and young people who hear voices (2012). In Hearing Voices Network. Retrieved from
http://www.hearing-voices.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Parents-Booklet-1-
Intro_web.pdf
 Voices & Visions #2: A guide to coping and recovery for parents and carers of children
and young people who hear voices (2012). In Hearing Voices Network. Retrieved from
http://www.hearing-voices.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Parents-Booklet-2-
Coping_web.pdf
 Understanding Psychosis and Schizophrenia (2014). In Hearing Voices Network.
Retrieved from https://www.bps.org.uk/system/files/user-
files/Division%20of%20Clinical%20Psychology/public/understanding_psychosis_-
_final_19th_nov_2014.pdf

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