'The original Making Sense of Hearing Voices book was a turning point in my life, giving me tools and ideas I could use in my own journey as a voice hearer. I was conscious, though, that the book wasn't written for me. It was aimed at professionals. So, with this significantly revised edition, I was heartened to realise its scope has widened to include voice hearers and all those who care about them. The knowledge contained within these pages has the potential to connect with voice hearers and help them untangle what can be an overwhelming experience. That is a huge gift. When I was unwrapping this gift, eagerly reading its pages, I was struck by the way this approach connects with others - peer support and Open Dialogue, to name but a few. Seeing the authors make these connections felt like the start of a conversation that has the potential to revolutionise and humanise mental health care. That is at the heart of this approach - how can we, as humans, meet with other humans in distress and respect their experiences and insights? This book is part of a response to this question, and we need more.'Rai Waddingham, voice hearer, practitioner and researcher'What do voices mean? This question, explored in the lives and work of Patsy Hage, Marius Romme, Sandra Escher and Dirk Corstens, has fuelled a transformation in our understanding of voice hearing. Their reframing of voices as meaningful experiences equipped voice hearers, families and mental health professionals with new approaches for effecting positive change individually and collectively. Their insistence on listening to voice hearers and situating voices in the context of their hearer's life history has also inspired a generation of researchers to develop richer, more nuanced accounts of what voices are and what they mean. Making Sense of Hearing Voices continues to unsettle narrow biomedical assumptions, open new directions for interdisciplinary research, and affirm that hearing voices is part of the diversity of human experience. It is and will remain indispensable to those committed to the empowerment of voice hearers and to understanding voices in all their complexity.'Angela Woods, Professor of Medical Humanities and Director of the Institute for Medical Humanities, Durham University'Engaging, inspiring, and remarkably free ofjargon, Making Sense of Hearing Voices offers mental healthprofessionals, families and people who hear voices a comprehensive guide tounderstanding and responding to this most human of experiences. Synthesising 30years of research, clinical practice and the insights of voice hearersthemselves, the authors offer an optimistic, pragmatic and useful approach,illuminated by numerous vivid examples. Their structured interview protocol,perfected over many years, helps to make sense of the experience, so thatpeople can find ways to solve problems they may not have known how to dealwith. By taking a non-judgmental attitude toward understanding why theperson is hearing voices and the specific difficulties they cause, a recoveryplan can start to take shape. And in a field like psychiatry, so often filledwith polemic, the authors' thoughtful, non-doctrinaire, evidence-based approachto medication is refreshing and balanced. In every respect, this book is amajor achievement!'Gail A. Hornstein, Professor Emerita of Psychology,Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts, and author of Agnes's Jacket: Apsychologist's search for the meanings of madness'Thework of Romme, Escher and Corstens presented in this book offers a uniqueperspective on what is traditionally framed as 'schizophrenia' or 'psychosis'.First, by asking the question: 'How does hearing voices make sense in thecontext of a person's life?', it provides a safe criterion through which anyonecan decide for herself if what is being said about their experience has anypractical value (no context = no value). Second, whether you're a voice heareror you work or live with a person who hears voices, you will find in thesepages concrete and operational ways to act and move beyond any feeling ofpowerlessness or disillusion you might be experiencing. Third, Romme, Escher,and Corstens' work helps people. It helps us all make sense of our experiencesand find ways to act when we find ourselves stuck. Finally, their work alsohelps us all, as human beings, connect with and support each other. I hope thisbook will provide the opportunity for their work to influence others' lives asit has influenced mine since I discovered it 16 years ago. As my work as atherapist as well as a trainer in mental health has shown me, we all need theemancipatory prospects opened here.'YannDerobert, clinical psychologist, mental health trainer and founder of theFrench Hearing Voices Network'This book is powerful and welcome reading for anyone who's hadenough of the culture of diagnosis and disorder. Romme, Escher andCorstens invite us to listen differently, to see voice hearing not as a symptomto be silenced but as something deeply human, often rooted in people's uniquestories, relationships and survival strategies. This revised edition offers a wayforward that centres connection, reflection and personal agency, not drugs,diagnoses and disempowerment. It speaks directly to voice hearers, to thepeople around them, and to those working in 'mental health' who are ready to dothings differently. It is a bold challenge to the psychiatric status quo and adeeply compassionate guide for anyone looking to move beyond oppressive medicalmodel understandings.'Jo Watson, psychotherapist, founder of adisorder4everyone.com and editor of the PCCS Drop the Disorder!books'Making Sense of Hearing Voicesoffers a unique opportunity to explore the theory and practice of a socialjustice framework when working with voice hearers. The book describes thecommon human experience of expressing life events as meaningful realities. Theapproach its authors have developed has led to the emancipation of many voicehearers and has empowered professionals to return the operation of power andrecognition of wisdom to the individuals concerned. The book providesunderstanding of how to support voice hearers through a process of mutualdiscovery and human-to-human relationship. The authors describe a construct thatembraces phenomenological, humanistic and non-pathologising ways ofunderstanding each person's unique reality. Building on the previous edition,the book provides practical, theoretical, and evidence-based content forexperts by experience, experts by profession and any loving being seeking towalk alongside a voice hearer. Without this book and approach, the experiences ofvoice hearers worldwide may never have been heard, understood and valued asequal ways of being in the world. Making Sense of Hearing Voices is perhaps the mostimportant practical contribution that we have ever known to the freedom,acceptance and possibility of hope for people who experience voices, visionsand other altered states.'Matt Ball, nurse practitioner, psychotherapist, previousand sometimes current hearer of voices'This book isreally important to help people who hear voices. It helps the person make senseof their voices, normalise them and create a relationship with them. It movesbeyond the biological and genetic theories that have dominated psychiatry forso many years and produced negative outcomes. Through the approaches in thisbook, it seems more likely that advancing knowledge will lead to changes in thewhole language of science and scientific workers. This book shows how hearingvoices is a common human experience that occurs in 10-25% of the generalpopulation. When the voices are seen from a metaphorical perspective related tothe person's experiences, they make sense. They are messengers that can bringdifficult messages, but they are highlighting issues in the person's life thatstill need to be addressed. As we often say: 'Don't shoot the messenger' - theyhave something important to say.'PeterBullimore, proud voice hearer, mental health trainer and consultant'Making Sense of Hearing Voices is a groundbreakingcontribution that challenges decades of clinical convention. For too long,voice hearing has been seen as a symptom to be quieted and dismissed. Backed bythe rigour of more than 30 years of research, clinical practice and powerfultestimony from those with lived experience, Romme, Escher and Corstens offercompassionate, transformative, evidence-based alternatives. This scholarly workreframes voice hearing not as a problem to suppress but as a rich,meaning-filled experience to explore and understand. Its recovery-orientedmethodology restores dignity, fosters empowerment, and offers genuine hope toindividuals long misunderstood and silenced. Written by pioneers who arerespected worldwide in this field, this book is an essential resource andmanual for clinicians, educators and policymakers dedicated to ethical,human-centred mental health care. It urges the field to move beyond narrowsymptom management and embrace a more holistic perspective, respecting andunderstanding the role voices play in hearer's lives. A seminal work, MakingSense of Hearing Voices belongs on every mental health professional'sshelf. 'SeethaSubbiah, Chief of Psychological Services, Kidz Hideout Program and Centrefor WellBeing, Tzu Chi Humanistic Youth Centre, Singapore'A powerful, inspiring exploration of the pioneeringwork of the Hearing Voices Movement, this book offers vitalinsights into voice hearing as a meaningful experience to be explored, ratherthan a symptom to be silenced, then reframes it through the lens of liberation,connection and hope. Essential reading for anyone seeking a more humane,empowering approach to mental distress, Making Sense of Hearing Voices shinesa light on the transformative potential of shared experience and redefines whatit means to truly listen.'Dr Eleanor Longden, Honorary Research Fellow, Divisionof Psychology and Mental Health, University of Manchester, and Co-Director,Complex Trauma and Resilience Unit, Greater Manchester Mental Health NHSFoundation Trust'The contribution theseauthors have made to the reduction of suffering of people around the worldcannot be understated. For far too long, voice hearers have felt misunderstoodand disempowered, their lived experience at best invalidated and at worstdemonised. With a balanced blend of deep insight and practical utility, thisbook is pivotal in turning the tide towards more compassionate engagement withvoice-hearing perceptions and relationships, and with the valid emotional andsocial concerns that are underpinning them.'Dr Charlie Heriot-Maitland, clinical psychologist andDirector of Balanced Minds, UK and co-author of Relating to Voices Using CFT (2022)and author of Controlled Explosions in Mental Health (forthcoming)'In Making Sense of Hearing Voices, MariusRomme, Sandra Esher and Dirk Corstens summarise perhaps the most important setof developments in the mental health field in recent years. While others haverightly critiqued the simplistic, pessimistic 'medical model' of biologicalpsychiatry, especially in relation to psychosis, the Hearing Voices Movementhas got on with creating viable alternatives, all over the world. This bookexplains how to respond to voice hearing and voice hearers in a sensible,humane, non-judgemental way that does not label or pathologise. Making sense ofour experiences is inevitably better than fearing and suppressing them.'ProfessorJohn Read, author of Models of Madness and A Straight TalkingIntroduction to the Causes of Mental Health Problems
