What are the basic assumptions of HVM?

Hearing Voices is an umbrella term covering a wide range of experiences. Calling it “hearing voices” often doesn’t do the personal experience justice. The experience often includes other senses and some people prefer to talk about it as seeing, hearing, or sensing things that other people around them don’t.

People who are part of the Hearing Voices Network describe their experiences in words such as: parts, flashbacks, djinns, spirit guides, schizophrenia, auditory hallucinations, persecution, harassment, dissociation, intrusive thoughts, thought transmissions, electronic harassment, psychological modalities, extra sensory perception, inner voices, ancestors and invisible presences.

Hearing voices is a normal human experience though unique to each person and sometimes unusual.

Hearing voices often makes sense in relation to personal life experiences.

The problem is not hearing voices but the difficulty to cope with the experience.

It is possible to learn to cope with these experiences.

A positive attitude by society and its members towards people hearing voices increases
acceptance of voices and people who hear voices.

Discrimination and exclusion of people hearing voices must stop.

What are we trying to do?

Improve awareness of the civil rights of people who hear voices.

Emancipate voice hearers and people who support them.

Educate society about the meaning of voices so as to reduce ignorance & anxiety.

Ensure the hearing voices approach is better known by voice hearers, their carers, professionals and the general public.

Demonstrate the wide variety of voice hearing experiences and their origins, and peoples’ approaches to coping and recovering from overwhelming voices.

Increase the quality and quantity of mutual support available to all people and organisations through setting up and nurturing peer support groups, organising events and delivering training.

Develop effective and respectful ways of helping voice hearers to cope with and recover from difficult voice experiences.

Have a strong impact on mental health practice towards positively supporting people hearing voices.

Train voice hearers and professionals in alternative approaches that serve recovery

How is the network run?

The network currently runs on passion and the efforts  from a group of volunteers – people from different backgrounds with an interest in creating a sustainable and thriving community for people who hear voices and supporters.

What is the Hearing Voices Movement?

The Manchester network is part of the wider hearing voices movement. The international Hearing Voices Movement is a prominent mental health service-user/survivor movement that promotes the needs and perspectives of experts by experience in the phenomenon of hearing voices. See more HERE

Who is the network affiliated to?

HVM works closely with CHARM   the Community for Holistic, Accessible, Rights Based Mental Health was launched in September 2020. Charm is campaigning calling for radical changes in the way psychiatric services are provided in Manchester. 

Charm Projects CIC was established in October 2022 in order to conduct research and community development projects to further our central values of compassion, community, human rights and holistic approaches to mental health.

HVM is part of INTERVOICE, an international movement, a close and respectful collaboration between voice hearers – who are experts by experience – and their carers, relatives and friends as well as mental health workers, academics and activists – who are experts by profession. INTERVOICE both promotes the emancipation of voice hearers and the development of best practice in working with those that hear distressing voices.

Who can get involved?

Anybody who is interested in promoting the values and aims of the Hearing Voices Network can get involved. As we develop we will be grateful for people to help organise and facilitate events, admin (like the website), fundraising and facilitating peer support groups.

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How is the network funded?

The network is currently seeking funding. We also aim to deliver training where the profit will go towards funding the network.

How to get in touch?

You can get in touch using the contact form HERE or by emailing hearingvoicesmanchester@gmail.com