Workshop where participants will gain an understanding of useful ways to support a person who experiences hearing voices.
Peter Bullimore’s Hearing Voices Workshop offers an insightful and compassionate approach to understanding and supporting individuals who experience voice hearing, paranoia, and unusual beliefs. Drawing from his own lived experience and extensive work in the field, Peter and his co-presenter Kate Crawford emphasize the importance of making meaning of these experiences rather than pathologizing them.
Workshop content will include:
- How common is it to hear voices?
- Three stages of hearing voices and understanding the metaphor of voices
- Deconstructing voices
- Personal experience
- Voice profiling
- Thought stopping
- Short term coping strategies for voices hearer’s
- Focusing Techniques
- Case Studies
Workshop outcomes
- Take a critical and thoughtful perspective on traditional ways of understanding voice hearing
- Understand the potential pitfalls of the claims made from other therapies
- Take a respectful and ethical approach to the experience of voice hearing
- Understand the potential connection between trauma and voice hearing
- Develop new ways of talking to and working with those that experience hearing voices
The workshop covers key topics such as the prevalence and phases of voice hearing, the role of trauma and neglect in developing paranoia, and practical strategies for coping and support. Participants are introduced to the Maastricht Interview, a tool designed to explore the personal significance of voices and beliefs, facilitating a deeper understanding and aiding in recovery.
Through a combination of presentations, experiential learning, and case studies, attendees gain practical skills to support individuals in navigating their experiences. The workshop fosters an environment of empathy and empowerment, challenging traditional psychiatric models and promoting a more person-centered approach to mental health.
This training is particularly beneficial for mental health professionals, peer supporters, and anyone interested in alternative perspectives on psychosis and recovery. By the end of the workshop, participants are equipped with tools and insights to better assist those they support in finding meaning and resilience in their experiences.