Together we develop a soothing, compassionate and wise self. We then practice managing criticism, anxiety, or hostility that we may experience from ourselves, others or voices. We could also explore the meaning of your voices and how they might be linked to difficult life experiences. As a result we often feel calmer, have more control and understanding.

A strength-based approach focusing on solution-building rather than problem-solving. With skilled questioning and techniques, we explore strengths already working for you and hopes for the future. Together we find new possibilities and solutions.

Hearing Voices groups provide a stigma free and safe space where people are supported to explore their experience from a personal and self-help perspective. Honouring your own expertise, finding new coping strategies and views, an increased sense of empowerment, acceptance and a community are likely outcomes of participating. Possibly opening doors to other groups and work.

CBTp (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for psychosis) focuses on how voices or other experiences make you feel or think about yourself, and how they affect your actions in life. Goals are to enhance your own coping strategies and to find new ones, taking an empirical approach to helpful and unhelpful patterns, reducing stigma and normalising the human experience.

Established to explore and balance parts within ourselves or in relationships with others, by Hal and Sidra Stone. Adopted by Rufus May et al. to suit working with voices. In short, through skilled dialogues we find more awareness and often protective factors of your voices. This can reduce distress and build a more balanced and amicable relationship with the voices.

Developed by Social Psychiatrists Marius Rome, voice hearer Patsy Hage and researcher Sandra Escher in the 1980`s. They found that people who managed well had good strategies, a better relationship with their voices and supportive, accepting people around them. With this now established approach, there is a lot of learned peer knowledge and strategies that we can draw upon.

This semi-structured questionnaire was co-designed by voice hearers and mental health professionals. You are the expert in the process of making sense of the voices, in relation to your life story. We discover existing and new solutions to the difficulties the voices can present. It helps you to increase control and identify ways forward.

We can draw on somatic counselling techniques that support settling the nervous system and getting into the current felt sense of your body, such as resourcing, pendulation and titration. This creates a safe and pleasant anchor before talking slowly and with more control about potentially difficult and traumatic memories.

A practical, empathetic counselling method that helps to resolve ambivalent feelings and insecurities, enhance motivation and commitment for change. It supports a person’s autonomy to change. Beneficial for managing health issues, money management, substance use or addiction, among others.

The traditional nursing ethos includes compassion, respect, comfort, holding the person in high regard and advocacy. This approach focuses on human connection, being mutual teachers and learning together. We look beyond the label of diagnosis to see a holistic view of a person and their life experience.

Art, music, writing, movement and nature are great forms of expressing emotions and influencing our mind. We can explore these together, in addition to practising mindfulness in nature, visualisation, breath-work and meditation.