Talking with Voices: AVATAR Therapy for Auditory Verbal Hallucinations

Auditory verbal hallucinations (‘voices’) are a common and often persistent distressing symptom of psychosis, being experienced by more than 70% of people suffering from these conditions. They are also often resistant to treatment with only a quarter of patients having a good response to antipsychotics even when given in combination with psychotherapy. AVATAR therapy is new and strikingly beneficial treatment for these voices. The basic approach was invented by Professor Julian Leff some 10 years ago with subsequent research and development led by Professor Thomas Craig and Professor Philippa...Read more Garety at King’s College London.

The approach enables the patient to create a digital representation of their most dominant voice (the ‘avatar’) and to conduct a dialogue with this avatar, assisted and supported by the therapist. The experience is akin to a virtual conversation not unlike what we will be engaged in during this webinar. The researchers have shown, though two robust clinical trials that the approach is highly effective in reducing the frequency and distress associated with voices, even stopping the distressing voices altogether in a small number of patients. It is hoped that this treatment can be rolled out in routine mental health services in the UK.

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Learning Objectives

Explain the basic principles of AVATAR therapy and how it is used to support individuals experiencing auditory verbal hallucinations.
Summarize key findings from clinical trials on AVATAR therapy, including its effectiveness in reducing the distress and frequency of voices.
Identify potential applications and challenges of AVATAR therapy in clinical practice and future directions for its implementation.

Learning Levels

All levels

Wednesday, March 05, 2025

Live Interactive Webinar

01:00 PM EST - 02:30 PM EST

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$10.00 - $40.00

EARN 1.5 CE Credit Hours
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About the speaker

Thomas Kern Jamieson-Craig, MD, PhD, FRCPscyh

Emeritus Professor of Social Psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College, London, Hon Consultant psychiatrist, South London and Maudsley Hospital

Tom qualified in medicine at the University of the West Indies and trained in psychiatry in Nottingham UK. He was appointed to Kings College London as the first UK Professor of Community Psychiatry in 1990. He worked clinically in South London where he led the closure and re-provision of a hospital asylum and the development of community mental health services. His clinical research focuses on developing and evaluating community- based psychiatric services including residential alternatives to the hospital asylum, studies of homeless mental health, specialised services for first episode psychosis and most recently, studies of AVATAR therapy for the treatment of auditory verbal hallucinations in psychosis.

Agenda

5 minute introduction

60 minute presentation

25 minute question and answer between the audience and presenter