Talking with Voices II
Overview
This study is no longer looking for new participants but is still ongoing.
Talking With Voices (TwV) is a new form of therapy that comes from the work of the International Hearing Voices Movement. It is based on the idea that what voices say may reflect real-life conflicts and difficulties in the life of the voice hearer.
Summary
What is the study about?
Although hearing voices that other people can’t hear is a common human experience, it can sometimes cause a lot of distress and be difficult to cope with.
Talking With Voices (TwV) is a new form of therapy that comes from the work of the International Hearing Voices Movement. It is based on the idea that what voices say may reflect real-life conflicts and difficulties in the life of the voice hearer.
TwV believes that understanding more about the links between voices and negative events and emotions can provide useful information for helping people make sense of their experiences. In the long-term, this may also be helpful for learning new ways to cope with the voices and become less distressed by them.
TwV involves a therapist ‘talking’ to the voice by asking it questions. The voice hearer then listens to the responses and repeats them out loud to the therapist.
Over time, the therapist learns more about the voice(s) in order to support the voice(s) and voice hearer to develop a more peaceful relationship. In addition, the therapist and voice hearer work together to try to understand how the voices may relate to particular problems in the person’s life.
What are you trying to find out?
We have already run a small study amongst 50 voice-hearers which showed that TwV was seen as an acceptable form of support and could be delivered in the NHS. However, we now want to run a much larger trial to understand whether TwV is an effective treatment and, if so, what aspects of it may be particularly helpful for people.
Why is it important?
Currently, it is not yet known whether TwV provides any greater benefit compared to treatment as usual; however, this study is designed to help answer that question and the information we gain may assist in providing better treatments in the future. This is because if TwV is shown to be effective then we will aim to make it more widely available within the NHS.
How can I find out more?
This study is no longer looking for new participants but is still ongoing.
However, if you have questions for the research team, click the button below to email us:
Meet the researcher
Eleanor LongdenService User Research Manager
My name is Eleanor Longden and I am a Service User Research Manager at GMMH's Psychosis Research Unit, Co-Director of the Complex Trauma and Resilience Research Unit, and Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Manchester.
Following my own lived experience of trauma and psychosis, my research focusses on promoting recovery-focussed approaches to these issues, particularly in supporting people troubled by distressing voices.
Collaborators
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