About this course
There is a historic tension when it comes to involving families in support for someone who is hearing voices and related experiences. Families are often caught between the systems that can leave them feeling powerless to help and a family member in distress who typically holds the least power and may be struggling to maintain autonomy. Family-oriented supports frequently encourage families to address concerns by talking about and sometimes seeking to take power away from that person. This is often counterproductive and can create estrangements that are difficult to repair. Yet, when effectively facilitated with everyone’s needs recognized, family support can have a unique potential power.
The Hearing Voices USA family group charter opens with:
“Family and friends are uniquely positioned to validate the experiences of those who hear voices or otherwise perceive things not perceived by others. At the same time, the experience of family members and friends also benefits from validation and a sense of community as they learn to resist oppressive conventions and develop alternative frameworks for understanding their own and their loved ones' experiences.”
This workshop will borrow from the Maastricht Interview approach, striving to make it more accessible and usable for family members. Drawing on years of experience facilitating Hearing Voices Network (HVN) friends-and-family groups, providing family consults, and personal experience with voices, visions, and other unusual or extreme states, the facilitators of this workshop will share what has worked and how they’ve navigated challenges. Skills and strategies related to advocacy, holding the knowledge of the whole person, mirroring back strengths and offering sincere counter-messages to distressing voices will all be discussed.