ISPS-US recently had a webinar on relating to distressing voices:
“There has recently been a shift from conceptualizing a voice as a sensory stimulus that the hearer holds beliefs about, to a voice as a person-like stimulus which the hearer has a relationship with. Understanding voice hearing experiences within relational frameworks has resulted in the development of psychological therapies that focus upon the experience of relating to and with distressing voices. This presentation explores lessons learnt from the development, experience and evaluation of one of these therapies – Relating Therapy. These lessons are located within the broader context of other relationally-based therapies that seek to support recovery through the use of digital enhancement (Avatar Therapy) and dynamic interaction with voices (Talking With Voices).”
The presenter, Mark Hayward, is both a practicing therapist and a researcher specializing in this approach.
A new Hearing Voices group is starting in Queens on February 2nd 2019 at 12-2pm. The group will be held at Rego Park Library on the first and third Saturdays of the month.
E-mail Maja Leibovitz for more info: mleibovitz@seriouscelebrations.com
Hearing Voices NYC was recently featured on NBC as part of a special on the Hearing Voices Movement. The description for the show is as follows:
“What is it like hearing voices that others can’t? For Jeannie Bass, hearing voices is her daily reality. The medical term is “auditory hallucinations.” Jeannie is a leader in the Hearing Voices Movement, which aims to re-frame and destigmatize the extreme mental experiences that society labels as crazy.”
Announcing a new training series titled “EXPERIENCE TRANSFORMS PRACTICE” which IDHA will be offering throughout the Fall and Spring. Like last year’s training series, this new training offers advanced continuing education opportunities to learn from a number of experts-by-experience and mental health professionals who have each made unique advances in alternative mental health narratives and practices. People interested in Hearing Voices NYC might be particularly interested in the upcoming course called:
Nowhere else in the NY metropolitan area are experts providing education on truly transformative models that have the capacity to shift the way mental health care is practiced. This course is aimed at front-line mental health workers, peer specialists, social workers, psychiatrists and psychologists, who are interested in learning about a new mental health paradigm that goes beyond recovery and clinical support – Experience, Inclusion, Human-Rights, Transformation!
At this point IDHA is offering advanced subscription rates to agencies (and individuals) who want to sign up early and thereby enable others to attend the course, who may not be able to afford tuition. As an agency, you can reserve spots for your staff members at $ 600 for the entire 7-week series (a total of 42 hours of training with C.E. eligibility). It is not required that spots must be filled by the same individuals each time. Each Saturday session is $ 150 dollars full fee for the day. Class size is limited to 35 people. Attached is a flyer for you to disseminate to any interested parties.
More info can be found at: IDHA-NYC.org/experience-transforms-practice
We hope that you’ll join us for this incredible opportunity.
When: Monday, April 16, 6:00 – 7:30 pm Where: East Village Access (242 E 2nd Street)
FREE
Are you a family member of someone taking psych meds, a prescriber of psych meds, or are you, yourself, taking psychotropic medication?
Are you interested in hearing real perspectives on people’s experiences with psych meds?
Are you concerned about multiple side effects, the stigma around taking meds, access to services, navigating the system, or the challenges around coming off/starting psychotropic medication?
Despite shifts towards inclusiveness and partnership in mental health services development, meaningful open communication between professionals, service users and families within the mental health system remains a challenge.
This Mental Health Trialogue (MHT) is the first of a monthly forum that brings together personal perspectives from providers, peers/survivors, family members and other interested parties to discuss issues and experiences with psychotropic medication, among other subjects. The goal of the forum is to foster rich discussion and to change the perception that only those who work in the field of mental health are the experts in mental health.
MHT’s combination of expertise and experience provides a unique wealth of collective knowledge to which individuals or people from different perspectives would not otherwise be exposed.
Trialogue meetings are open to current or former mental health service users, families and friends, professional mental health workers, prescribers, as well as all community members with an interest in mental health. All are encouraged to attend.
Three members from the Institute for the Development of Human Arts, a psychiatrist, a person with lived experience, and a family member, will open the forum by explaining the purpose of MHT, then launch into a “trialogue discussion” about experiences with psychotropic medication. We will then open the conversation to all in attendance to share their responses if desired and foster community. Snacks and refreshments will be provided.
MHT provides a supportive, non-judgemental space to share unique stories, find solidarity and discover new complementary perspectives that offer clarity, insight, and supportive community. MHT is not a support group, a source of medical/psychiatric advice, or a therapy session.
Be heard, be informed, find your seat at the table.
Mark your calendars! Hearing Voices Network NYC is having its first-ever facilitator training for people that want to start their own Hearing Voices groups. The training will be 2 full days and will consist of hands-on/practical approaches to starting your own Hearing Voices group.
Dates: June 2nd-3rd, 2018
Where: Community Access in the East Village
Cost: TBD, but different prices for professionals/students/low-income, with some scholarships for voice-hearers
Who is teaching: Voice-hearers and people with lived experience of extreme states from the New York City community, plus some clinicians who have developed allied groups within institutional settings or in the community with co-faciliation
Why: Many people have approached us about wanting to start Hearing Voices groups in NYC, but don’t feel they have enough practical or ‘hands-on’ knowledge to start their own. This 2-Day facilitator training is an attempt to vitalize the Hearing Voices Network in NYC and help people feel ready to start their own group.
From Hearing Voices USA: Since beginning in December 2016, our Online Hearing Voices Network groups have grown into powerful virtual communities of support. We often receive emails from the family members of voice-hearers asking if they can observe meetings to get some insight into the experience of voice-hearing , how to cope or make meaning of it and the values of HVN. While this is not something we can accommodate in the Monday group, it has inspired us to schedule an Online Forum specific for family.
This Online Forum will give family members the opportunity to ask questions of individuals who hear voices, see visions or navigate other alternate realities (who also have extensive experience supporting others with extreme states of mind or consciousness). Participants are welcome to submit questions in advance.
WHO: Family members of voice-hearers
WHEN: Wednesday, February 7th from 8:00PM-9:30PM Eastern Time
HOW: Zoom teleconference platform (one click access from computer and option to download Zoom app onto SmartPhone)
