The benefits of hearing voices groups: more findings from a US national study

ABSTRACT

Background

Hearing voices peer-support groups (HVGs) are spreading widely as an alternative or supplement to standard psychiatric treatments for the distress that can accompany unshared perceptions or extreme states. Yet although people in dozens of countries clearly find HVGs useful, their precise mechanisms of action and distinctive benefits are not fully understood. Analyzing the effectiveness of these groups is increasingly important as mental health resources stretch to the breaking point in many parts of the world.

Methods

Using an inductive phenomenological method, our collaborative team of voice-hearers and researchers analyzed the experiences of 119 HVG members in the US, who provided detailed voice hearing histories and accounts of group participation.

Results

Results indicated that HVGs offer four distinct types of benefits, affording members an opportunity to: (1) examine the voice hearing experience in itself; (2) discern the meanings of voices and explore them within a biographical context; (3) receive validation for cultural or spiritual ways of understanding voices; and (4) develop a sense of shared experience and camaraderie with other voice-hearers.

Discussion

These participant-defined benefits are quite different from standard outcome measures, suggesting new avenues for research to understand the diverse appeal of HVGs

KEYWORDS:

• Hearing voices
• peer support
• recovery
• psychosis
• hearing voices movement

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the contributions of Jacqui Dillon, Lisa Forestell, and Andrea Weisman to initial phases of the project; Maria Narimanidze to the follow-up interviews; and Caroline Mazel-Carlton, Cindy Marty Hadge, and Sera Davidow to participant recruitment.

Disclosure statement

Alison Branitsky has received financial compensation for training and presentations on the Hearing Voices Movement and hearing voices peer-support group facilitation, and is a current trustee of the English Hearing Voices Network. All data collection, analysis and writing related to the research presented here was completed before her tenure as a trustee.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by [Grant GD8911] from the Foundation for Excellence in Mental Health Care to Mount Holyoke College.