Category: Voice Hearing

Talking with Voices – Learning from the Dialogue – A Two Day Workshop in April

Friday February 8, 2019

This is not a Dublin North, North East Recovery College course.

Talking with Voices – Learning from the Dialogue

A Two-Day Workshop 1st and 2nd April, 2019

School of Nursing and Human Sciences

Dublin City University

9.30am – 4.00pm

Facilitators: Rufus May and Elisabeth Svanholmer

People who hear distressing voices can be entangled in repressing dialogues with their voices that limit their lives. Talking to the voices is a technique that enhances a more fruitful relationship between the voices and the voice hearer. This work is inspired by Voice Dialogue, a method developed by Hal and Sidra Stone. In this workshop the framework will be explained. The technique and attitude necessary for speaking with the voices will be demonstrated and participants will have the opportunity to practice the techniques. Indications and contraindications will be discussed, and examples will be given that clarify the potentials of this approach.

The workshop will include: Mapping out the voices people are hearing; Voice dialogue understandings that everybody has different parts or sub-personalities; Dialoguing as a self-help tool; Using compassionate communication skills; How to dialogue with someone else’s voices; Deciding whether or not to use the dialoguing technique; Grounding strategies; Creative ways to dialogue with voices

This free workshop, funded by the Nursing and Midwifery Practice Development Unit (NMPDU) and organised by the Irish Institute of Mental Health Nursing (IIMHN), is targeted primarily at mental health nurses, whose applications will be prioritised, but applications are also open to other mental health workers and people who experience voices.

Rufus May has worked as a clinical psychologist in adult mental health services for 20 years. He provides training and consultancy in recovery and integrative based approach to psychosis and other mental health problems. His interest in psychological approaches to psychosis and recovery is rooted in his own experiences of psychosis and recovery in his late teens. www.rufusmay.com

Elisabeth Svanholmer has worked since 2006 as a Danish Hearing Voices Network trainer and facilitator. Her recovery journey has inspired her to use her own experiences of living with voices and other unusual experiences to help others. Elisabeth is passionate about facilitating creative, supportive spaces for people to talk about their experiences and learn from each other. Living in the UK she is still one of the organisers of a bi-monthly Danish open meeting for hearing voices groups in Western Denmark. Her blog is: https://livinglifegently.live/

To book a place, please complete the application form and email to mary.farrelly@dcu.ie or post to the address on the form. Places are limited, so early booking is advised.

Rufus May and Eisabeth Svanholmer flyer and app form for 2 day voice dialogue

Starting & Sustaining Hearing Voices & Paranoia Support Groups

Friday November 2, 2018

STARTING & SUSTAINING HEARING VOICES & PARANOIA SUPPORT GROUPS

 

A TWO-DAY SKILLS’ BASED WORKSHOP:  6th and 7th December 2018 FOLLOW-UP DAY: 1st April 2019

School of Nursing and Human Sciences Dublin City University

Facilitator: Peter Bullimore, an internationally renowned voices and paranoia trainer

 Background to the Workshop:

There are now a number of Hearing Voices Groups in Ireland (www.hearingvoicesnetworkireland.ie )

To continue the development of a network of Hearing Voices Groups, a 2-day training programme for people interested in becoming group facilitators is now again available. A follow-up 1 day workshop is also provided to provide support and guidance for those who have completed the training and are facilitating a group.  Please note that you should be able to commit to both sets of workshops.

This is a free workshop, funded by the Nursing and Midwifery Practice Development Unit (NMPDU) and organised by the Irish Institute of Mental Health Nursing (www.iimhn.ie ).

Aim of the Workshop:

A 2-day workshop for mental health staff and people with lived experience who want to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to facilitate a Hearing Voices Support Group.  On completion of the workshop, participants will be expected to start a hearing voices group or co-facilitate an existing group.  A 1-day follow-up workshop in April will provide support and guidance for those who have completed the training in their endeavours to set-up and facilitate groups.

 

Workshop Content:

Hopes & fears of starting a group

Why start a group?

Therapy or therapeutic group

Ground rules & starting points

The role of the facilitator

Benefits of a group

Understanding group members & communication skills

Conflict management & coping with difficult members

Extending the group

Reviewing the group

What are the challenges & rewards?

Support for facilitators

This workshop is targeted primarily at mental health nurses, whose applications will be prioritised, but applications are also open to other mental health workers and people who experience voices, visions and paranoia.

To book a place, please complete the application form below and email to mary.farrelly@dcu.ie or post to the address on the form. Places are limited, so early booking is advised. Successful applicants will be informed by the 23^rd of November.

Hearing Voices Support Group workshop flyer and application

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elisabeth Svanholmer writes: Artwork by Elisabeth Svanholmer is looking for contributors to a new online resource about hearing things that others don’t

Wednesday April 11, 2018

Hearing the Voice is currently working with people who have personal experience of hearing voices to develop Integrated Voices  – a new online resource that will help people find clear, balanced and comprehensive information about hearing and experiencing things that could be understood as ‘voices’.

We, Elisabeth Svanholmer (voice-hearer, mental health trainer) and Rufus May (Hearing Voices Group facilitator), have been commissioned to research content for a section of the website which will be looking at ‘Living with Voices’.

In our experience there is an amazing wealth of knowledge and wisdom already out there. People from all walks of life have found ways to understand and live with their experiences and we want to encourage people to share these with us.

The material we collect can help shape the Integrated Voices website and it is our hope that the website will be full of personal reflections, quotes and stories to inspire others and to help people feel less alone with the things they experience.

We are very interested in diverse experiences and we are aware that calling it ‘hearing voices’ doesn’t resonate with everyone. We would love to hear from people who have experiences such as djinns, spirit guides, schizophrenia, auditory hallucinations, persecution, electronic harassment, intrusive thoughts, thought transmissions, inner voices, ancestors and invisible presences.

We are looking to collect ideas about strategies that people use to cope. We are also hoping to gather a wide range of personal statements about what everyday life is like for people who hear or sense things that others don’t.

If you hear voices or support someone who hears voices, there are different ways to contribute.

Online questionnaire

We have launched an online questionnaire. It consists of about 10 open ended questions about everyday life with experiences such as voices, coping with these experiences and talking about them with others. There is also a version for family members, friends and supporters.

If you’d like to complete the questionnaire, you can do so here.

If you prefer a PDF or paper version of the questionnaire you can contact Elisabeth to arrange this.

Focus groups

We will be facilitating two focus group sessions – one in Manchester on Friday 4 May (2-4pm) and one in London on Thursday 3 May (1.30-3.30pm). More information about the focus groups and how to take part is available in this flyer.

Interviews

If you would like to share your experiences and ideas about coping in a 1-to-1 interview you are welcome to get in touch. We might be able to meet to do the interview depending on where you live but we could also do it over the phone. We would like to audio record interviews to make sure we don’t miss anything or misunderstand. Any material we collect will be kept securely and won’t be shared with anyone without your permission.

If you are interested or have any questions about interviews please contact Elisabeth.

Visiting Hearing Voices groups

Elisabeth is arranging to visit different Hearing Voices Groups in the UK to have informal sessions where people can share their knowledge and stories. If you are a member or a facilitator of a group and you want to contribute you are welcome to get in touch and we can look at different possibilities.

The deadline for participating will be 4 May 2018.

You can contact Elisabeth by email or phone 07926685432.

About Elisabeth and Rufus

Elisabeth Svanholmer is originally from Denmark, now living in West Yorkshire. She has experienced hearing and sensing unusual things all her life, and was a member of a hearing voices peer support group for 7 years.  She is passionate about destigmatising these kinds of experiences and has been working and volunteering with the Hearing Voices Network since 2006.

Rufus May does not hear voices. When he was 18, however, he experienced powerful beliefs and perceptual experiences, which included perceiving the TV and radio communicating with him. Since 2001, he has worked on a weekly basis with Hearing Voices Groups, and has a long history of working collaboratively with voice hearers and their supporters in both his work as a clinical psychologist and as a volunteer with the Hearing Voices Network.