About the Book
This magnificent book brings together in one volume all the
theory, learning, research, wisdom from practice and practical examples of the
revolutionary work of Marius Romme, Sandra Escher and Dirk Corstens into
supporting people who hear voices. Challenging the fundamental premises of
mainstream psychiatry, Romme, Escher and Corstens have pioneered their approach
of 'making sense of voices' since the 1980s. They were the first to listen to
and talk with the voices of voice hearers, and to realise that the identities
of the voices and what they had to say held huge meaning in the contexts of
voice hearers' lives. These were not hallucinations or delusions but phenomena
whose words offered clues both to the person's history (frequently of childhood
abuse and severe trauma) and how they might be helped to learn to live with
their voices and recover. For far too many people, the blunt interventions
preferred by mainstream psychiatry - incarceration in psychiatric institutions,
loss of independence and long-term reliance on welfare and heavy doses of
neuroleptics and tranquillisers - had in fact robbed them of the mental and
emotional capacity and external resources they needed to help themselves.
This book explains the history and reports the wealth of research
conducted to support this way of working, together with detailed practical
advice on how to use the approach with voice hearers. Drawing on the accounts
of numerous voice hearers, in addition to the clinical research, this book is
the go-to resource for those who hear voices, the people who love and support
them and those whose work brings them into contact with voice hearers and who
wish to help them find ways to negotiate a positive relationship with their
sometimes unwelcome and vociferous companions.
Unlike
medication, this approach works, has no distressing side effects, and can
enable the person to co-exist with the voices that they find helpful, while
others that could be hostile and even seemingly evil, can be managed or even go
away. Once heeded, their messages, which could often be attempts to protect the
voice hearer, were no longer needed.
Table of Contents:
Foreword: The voice of the hearing
voices movement by Jim van Os
Introduction
How the book is organised
Research projects and
investigations
Terminology
Part 1 - Background
and foundation
1. A
content-focused approach to hearing voices
2. The
scientific foundation of the approach
3. The
relation between voices and life history
Part 2 - The
voices analysis, from interview to construct
4. The voices analysis, stage 1: Conducting the Maastricht
Hearing Voices Interview
5. The
voices analysis, stage 2: Drawing up a report
6. The voices analysis, stage 3: Producing a construct of the
person's social-emotional problems
Part 3 - Exploring
ways of dealing with voices
7. Dealing
with hearing voices as a process
8. Education
9. 'Working with Voices': A training course for voice-hearers
and caregivers
10. Dealing
with voices in the stage of confusion
11. Keeping
a diary as an aid to communication
12. Taking
ownership of the voices as a form of emancipation
13. One
hundred constructs under the magnifying glass
14. Voice
Dialogue and Talking with Voices
15. Living
with voices - developing one's own identity
Part 4 - Continuing
the process
16. Support
from peers and self-help groups
17. Networks:
Making connections and sharing experiences
18. Dealing
with the effects of trauma
19. Cognitive behavioural therapy
and hallucinations integration treatment for hearing voices
20. Medication
21. Open
Dialogue and 'Working with Voices'
22. Alternative
explanations and care
References
Appendices
About the Author :
Marius Romme is emeritus professor of social psychiatry at
Maastricht University and lives in Amsterdam.
Sandra Escher (died 2021) had a PhD in medicine and was a
research-journalist.
Dirk Corstens works as a social psychiatrist and psychotherapist in
his own private practice.
Marius
and Sandra organised many conferences on hearing voices and were the
inspiration behind the international hearing voices movement and the World
Hearing Voices Congresses. Both conducted research on adults and children who
hear voices. They published four books and several articles and gave numerous
lectures on hearing voices. Together they developed and delivered training
courses for counsellors and voice-hearers in the Netherlands and many other
countries.
Dirk
has taught courses on Working with Voices with Ron Coleman and Eleanor Longden
in the UK, France and Australia, and with Trevor Eyles and Birgitte Bjerregaard
in Denmark. He has conducted research on constructs and Talking with Voices and
is collaborating in ongoing research on Talking with Voices. He was president
of Intervoice for many years, until voice-hearers took over that position.
Together with Peter Oud and Gert Haringsma, he set up the Voices Clinic Alkmaar
in 2020. With Martijn Kole, Sanna Martha and Heleen Wadman, he delivers
Peer-supported Open Dialogue for social networks.
Review :
'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 of
jargon, Making Sense of Hearing Voices offers mental health
professionals, families and people who hear voices a comprehensive guide to
understanding and responding to this most human of experiences. Synthesising 30
years of research, clinical practice and the insights of voice hearers
themselves, 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 that
people can find ways to solve problems they may not have known how to deal
with. By taking a non-judgmental attitude toward understanding why the
person is hearing voices and the specific difficulties they cause, a recovery
plan can start to take shape. And in a field like psychiatry, so often filled
with polemic, the authors' thoughtful, non-doctrinaire, evidence-based approach
to medication is refreshing and balanced. In every respect, this book is a
major achievement!'
Gail A. Hornstein, Professor Emerita of Psychology,
Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts, and author of Agnes's Jacket: A
psychologist's search for the meanings of madness'The
work of Romme, Escher and Corstens presented in this book offers a unique
perspective on what is traditionally framed as 'schizophrenia' or 'psychosis'.
First, by asking the question: 'How does hearing voices make sense in the
context of a person's life?', it provides a safe criterion through which anyone
can decide for herself if what is being said about their experience has any
practical value (no context = no value). Second, whether you're a voice hearer
or you work or live with a person who hears voices, you will find in these
pages concrete and operational ways to act and move beyond any feeling of
powerlessness or disillusion you might be experiencing. Third, Romme, Escher,
and Corstens' work helps people. It helps us all make sense of our experiences
and find ways to act when we find ourselves stuck. Finally, their work also
helps us all, as human beings, connect with and support each other. I hope this
book will provide the opportunity for their work to influence others' lives as
it has influenced mine since I discovered it 16 years ago. As my work as a
therapist as well as a trainer in mental health has shown me, we all need the
emancipatory prospects opened here.'
Yann
Derobert, clinical psychologist, mental health trainer and founder of the
French Hearing Voices Network
'This book is powerful and welcome reading for anyone who's had
enough of the culture of diagnosis and disorder. Romme, Escher and
Corstens invite us to listen differently, to see voice hearing not as a symptom
to be silenced but as something deeply human, often rooted in people's unique
stories, relationships and survival strategies. This revised edition offers a way
forward that centres connection, reflection and personal agency, not drugs,
diagnoses and disempowerment. It speaks directly to voice hearers, to the
people around them, and to those working in 'mental health' who are ready to do
things differently. It is a bold challenge to the psychiatric status quo and a
deeply compassionate guide for anyone looking to move beyond oppressive medical
model understandings.'
Jo Watson, psychotherapist, founder of adisorder4everyone.com and editor of the PCCS Drop the Disorder!
books
'Making Sense of Hearing Voices
offers a unique opportunity to explore the theory and practice of a social
justice framework when working with voice hearers. The book describes the
common human experience of expressing life events as meaningful realities. The
approach its authors have developed has led to the emancipation of many voice
hearers and has empowered professionals to return the operation of power and
recognition of wisdom to the individuals concerned. The book provides
understanding of how to support voice hearers through a process of mutual
discovery and human-to-human relationship. The authors describe a construct that
embraces phenomenological, humanistic and non-pathologising ways of
understanding each person's unique reality. Building on the previous edition,
the book provides practical, theoretical, and evidence-based content for
experts by experience, experts by profession and any loving being seeking to
walk alongside a voice hearer. Without this book and approach, the experiences of
voice hearers worldwide may never have been heard, understood and valued as
equal ways of being in the world. Making Sense of Hearing Voices is perhaps the most
important practical contribution that we have ever known to the freedom,
acceptance and possibility of hope for people who experience voices, visions
and other altered states.'
Matt Ball, nurse practitioner, psychotherapist, previous
and sometimes current hearer of voices
'This book is
really important to help people who hear voices. It helps the person make sense
of their voices, normalise them and create a relationship with them. It moves
beyond the biological and genetic theories that have dominated psychiatry for
so many years and produced negative outcomes. Through the approaches in this
book, it seems more likely that advancing knowledge will lead to changes in the
whole language of science and scientific workers. This book shows how hearing
voices is a common human experience that occurs in 10-25% of the general
population. When the voices are seen from a metaphorical perspective related to
the person's experiences, they make sense. They are messengers that can bring
difficult messages, but they are highlighting issues in the person's life that
still need to be addressed. As we often say: 'Don't shoot the messenger' - they
have something important to say.'
Peter
Bullimore, proud voice hearer, mental health trainer and consultant
'Making Sense of Hearing Voices is a groundbreaking
contribution that challenges decades of clinical convention. For too long,
voice hearing has been seen as a symptom to be quieted and dismissed. Backed by
the rigour of more than 30 years of research, clinical practice and powerful
testimony from those with lived experience, Romme, Escher and Corstens offer
compassionate, transformative, evidence-based alternatives. This scholarly work
reframes voice hearing not as a problem to suppress but as a rich,
meaning-filled experience to explore and understand. Its recovery-oriented
methodology restores dignity, fosters empowerment, and offers genuine hope to
individuals long misunderstood and silenced. Written by pioneers who are
respected worldwide in this field, this book is an essential resource and
manual for clinicians, educators and policymakers dedicated to ethical,
human-centred mental health care. It urges the field to move beyond narrow
symptom management and embrace a more holistic perspective, respecting and
understanding the role voices play in hearer's lives. A seminal work, Making
Sense of Hearing Voices belongs on every mental health professional's
shelf. '
Seetha
Subbiah, Chief of Psychological Services, Kidz Hideout Program and Centre
for WellBeing, Tzu Chi Humanistic Youth Centre, Singapore
'A powerful, inspiring exploration of the pioneering
work of the Hearing Voices Movement, this book offers vital
insights into voice hearing as a meaningful experience to be explored, rather
than 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 shines
a light on the transformative potential of shared experience and redefines what
it means to truly listen.'
Dr Eleanor Longden, Honorary Research Fellow, Division
of Psychology and Mental Health, University of Manchester, and Co-Director,
Complex Trauma and Resilience Unit, Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS
Foundation Trust
'The contribution these
authors have made to the reduction of suffering of people around the world
cannot be understated. For far too long, voice hearers have felt misunderstood
and disempowered, their lived experience at best invalidated and at worst
demonised. With a balanced blend of deep insight and practical utility, this
book is pivotal in turning the tide towards more compassionate engagement with
voice-hearing perceptions and relationships, and with the valid emotional and
social concerns that are underpinning them.'
Dr Charlie Heriot-Maitland, clinical psychologist and
Director 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, Marius
Romme, Sandra Esher and Dirk Corstens summarise perhaps the most important set
of developments in the mental health field in recent years. While others have
rightly critiqued the simplistic, pessimistic 'medical model' of biological
psychiatry, especially in relation to psychosis, the Hearing Voices Movement
has got on with creating viable alternatives, all over the world. This book
explains how to respond to voice hearing and voice hearers in a sensible,
humane, non-judgemental way that does not label or pathologise. Making sense of
our experiences is inevitably better than fearing and suppressing them.'
Professor
John Read, author of Models of Madness and A Straight Talking
Introduction to the Causes of Mental Health Problems
