Hearing Voices Network USA

Hearing Voices Others Can't: How a Growing Movement Helps Mental Health Stigma

Our own Hearing Voices USA board member, Jeannie Bass, recently was interviewed by NBC. Jeannie had this to say about the experience,

Having the opportunity to be part of a documentary piece with a mainstream network like NBC on the worldwide hearing voices movement was extremely exciting but also challenging. I wasn’t prepared for how difficult sharing my innermost experiences would be on both me and the voices I hear that others don’t. At several points throughout the 2 day interview it felt like I might not be able to keep going (including when I began hearing the filmmaker Marshall’s voice from inside and at times outside my head as well as at the end when I was stung by a family of wasps on the beach while talking on camera) but in the end it was totally worth it. I am appreciative that the film makers took the time to step into my world and try to understand what life for a voice hearer can be like. It isn’t all good or bad for many of us but rather some combination varying day to day. NBC was respectful from start to finish and I feel truly showed a balanced view of the hearing voices movement through my own experience as a voice hearer. This sentiment was echoed by many others in the movement who viewed the piece.

Thank you Jeannie!

View the complete segment here

New Online Groups!

web links There are now ONLINE opportunities to connect, share experiences, and find mutual support!

These groups are accessible via web-based platforms and by phone. They hold all the same values as Full Charter HVN groups that meet in community!

Online groups are specifically for those with personal lived experience with hearing voices, seeing visions, and/or negotiating alternative realities. They are voice-hearer facilitated.

With further questions and for details on how to access the group please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Online HVN Facilitators' Support Group

HVN USA is happy to offer an ongoing mutual support group for people who are currently facilitating HVN groups and for those interested in starting new Hearing Voices groups. This group is happening once-a-month online via Zoom (including a phone-in option), free of charge. Like other Hearing Voices groups, it's a place for facilitators to share our stories, challenges and victories, to gain new perspectives and connect with others who may have similar experiences. ConferenceCall opt

When?

First Friday of each Month

3pm-4pm Eastern Time

For more info: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

New Webinar Available

HVN USA Facilitator Trainers Lisa Forestell and Marty Hadge recently presented a webinar for Hearing Voices Network of Lower Hudson Valley, New York. This webinar is now available for replay online for free. It is about one hour in length. Among other things, it covers the history, values and ethics of the HVN approach. Lisa and Marty also share personal stories regarding their own experiences with voice hearing, how it affected their interactions with others inside and outside the traditional mental health system, and experiences participating in and facilitating HVN USA groups. There is also a great Q&A session at the end.

Click here to check it out!

Note: It will ask for a name and email address to register for playback.

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Results from New Research Study

'Experiences of hearing voices: analysis of a novel phenomenological survey', The Lancet Psychiatry, March 2015

cover The results from a new research study about the experiences of hearing voices have been published. This study was a collaboration between Hearing the Voice and the Lived Experience Research Network.

"Completed by 153 people (including 26 who have no history of mental illness), our open-ended online questionnaire aimed to strip away assumptions about what we think voice-hearers are experiencing, and instead ask people to describe what it is like to hear voices in their own words."

Click here to check it out!

Hearing Voices Webinar Available for Replay

On October 10th, 2014 Oryx Cohen (National Empowerment Center and HVN USA Board Member) and Marty Hadge (Western Mass Recovery Learning Community and HVN USA Trainer) presented a Hearing Voices Webinar entitled: