What do we mean by
‘voices’?
Hearing voices is hearing things
that other people can’t. This can
include voices, sounds, music and
intrusive thoughts. It can come
through your ears, or from inside
your head. Usually, it feels like the
voices are not coming from you.
Similar, related experiences often
include visions, other sensory
experiences (eg, smells or touch),
and beliefs that others think are
unusual.
Our Philosophy
The Hearing Voices Approach. We work with the hearing voices
approach, initiated in the late 1980’s by Professor Marius Romme, and
which has since become a worldwide movement. The approach is
based on the lived experience of people who have recovered, and of
voice hearers who have never needed psychiatric support. Our work is
founded on the following ideas:
Our language comes from the
perspective of lived experience.
While others may label our
experiences as hallucinations or
paranoia, schizophrenia,
schizoaffective dissorder,
psychosis, DID or borderline … from
our perspective they are very real.
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Did you know?
•
Several major studies have found
that at least 4% of the general
population hear voices. Most of
these people have not been
diagnosed with a mental illness and
live well with their voices.
•
“I’m not
scared of
my voices
anymore.”
Hearing voices is a normal human experience.
We don’t aim to get rid of people’s voices, but to accept and
make sense of them
Voices will make sense in the context of people’s life history
There are many strategies for making sense of voices and
changing the relationship with them
Sharing recovery stories and strategies is empowering,
hopeful and effective
Every single person can recover.
The Hearing Voices Approach
Dates
Tuesday 21st June, 2016
Time
9.30am-4.30pm
Venue
Ararat Trade Training Centre
4-30 Barkley Street
Ararat
Fees
FREE Training
“We can take
back control
of the
voices.”
Previous member of a
voices group, and
Voices Vic volunteer.
Previous member of a
voices group
RSVP to Kelly Fletcher – Regional Coordinator for Hearing Voices
Victoria based at Wimmera Uniting Care Horsham, via email at
[email protected] or phone on 53624011 for catering purposes.
Visit us on Facebook
WEB
www.voicesvic.org.au
TEL
(03) 9692 9500
EMAIL
[email protected]
ADDRESS
211 Chapel Street, Prahran VIC 3181
www.voicesvic.org.au
Victoria’s specialist consumer-led
service for hearing voices & recovery.
• Support groups & individual peer work for voice hearers.
• Professional development for community & clinical services
• Affirmative action employers and active mentors of voice hearers in paid & volunteer roles
• Active in the media & mental health sector to build hope & inclusion, and challenge stigma & myths.
• A network to increase collaboration across disciplines, and between consumers & professionals.
• Research with a range of partners to build the evidence base for the hearing voices approach.
• Not-for-profit, self-funded program of Prahran Mission
For voice
hearers /
consumers
Struggling?
Grab one of our
self-help pocket guides and try
out the strategies. Visit our
website or find us on Facebook
and chat to other voice hearers.
Visit our office, email or call to
find out more.
Group support?
There are
hearing voices support groups all
round Victoria—visit our website
to find one close to you. These
are safe spaces to talk about
voices and connect with others
who have been there too.
Believe. Our office is full of
people who were once told they
would never recover. Yet here we
all are, working hard, getting a
handle on our voices and making
a difference. You can do it too!
Believe that you will recover—then
start doing the work you need to
do. Come and visit us, check out
the library & have a chat.
Get involved!
Pop in and
have a chat—there are always lots
of opportunities to pitch in & join
the team!
ABN 77 812 307 472
For workers &
organisations
For carers,
friends &
family
Information?
Download our fact sheet
for families, friends and
carers from our website.
Visit our office to check
out further books and
resources, or order from
our website.
Talk? We’re happy to
visit local carer support
groups to talk about voices
and recovery—just call us
to book a time.
For everyone
Service visit?
Training?
In-house training? We
deliver customised in-house
training for organisations to
build skills in understanding
and working with voices. This
can be very cost-effective, and
we have a range of options.
Just contact us for a quote.
Resources?
We’d love
to come visit your service, talk
about the approach & share
recovery stories. We can give
presentations to staff teams,
consumers/voice hearers—
whatever you like!
Secondary
consultation?
Struggling
with how to work with voices?
A particular issue creating
problems? We are available for
secondary consultation for
individuals or groups of
workers, and our consults
always include someone with
lived experience of recovery.
At Voices Vic, we believe everyone can recover!
We offer a
comprehensive training
calendar—just visit our
website. Our training is
delivered by local and
international experts in
recovery from voices, and is
always open to everyone (we
have discounted rates for
consumers and carers).
We sell a
range of specialist books &
DVDs about voices and
recovery—just visit our
website. We also have a
small specialised library in
our office—anyone is
welcome to visit and browse.
News & Info? Sign up
for our e-newsletter:
email address is below.
More? Watch out for
our conferences and
special events.