Hearing Voices


Madness Radio: Politics of Language Sera Davidow

First Aired 5-1-2013

How do psychiatric labels shape our perceptions of others - and ourselves? Are there better ways to understand emotional distress? Does the "peer movement" offer real alternatives -- or present new problems? Sera Davidow, psychiatric survivor, director of the peer-run Western Mass Recovery Learning Community (RLC), and co-producer of the new film "Beyond the Medical Model," discusses the politics of language and innovative programs to truly help people in distress.
http://www.westernmassrlc.org
http://www.madinamerica.com/author/sdavi...

Madness Radio: Meaning From Voices Eleanor Longden

First Aired 6-1-2012

Hearing voices is strongly connected with traumatic experiences, but are voices a brain malfunction or a creative strategy for protection? UK psychologist Eleanor Longden survived a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia and went on to be a leading researcher around voice hearing, trauma, and dissociation. She is a pioneer in the movement to understand voices as a normal human experience -- and truly help people by healing trauma. http://ind.pn/3ltxoe http://bit.ly/NjDA77 http://bit.ly/z01Fhn http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB869Pk390U

Madness Radio: Living With Voices Ron Coleman

First Aired 7-1-2011

Are voices real -- or are they just auditory hallucinations and sign of mental illness? Is it best to try to control and get rid of voices -- or listen and discover their meaning? After being sexually abused by a priest and in grief at the death of his first wife, Scottish advocate Ron Coleman started hearing voices, was labeled a chronic schizophrenic and spent six years in psychiatric hospitals. Ron describes his remarkable recovery, and how he became a renowned teacher and leading trainer with the Hearing Voices movement in the UK. http://www.workingtorecovery.co.uk/

Madness Radio: Meanings of Madness Gail Hornstein

First Aired 11-3-2010

Seamstress Agnes Richter was locked away in a mental asylum in the 1890s, and was so determined to have a voice that she embroidered her personal story onto the jacket she wore on the ward. What is the hidden history of people writing their own narratives of going insane? How important is it to listen to the experiences of "mentally ill" people? Is there meaning in madness? Gail Hornstein, Mt. Holyoke College professor and author of Agnes's Jacket: A Psychologist's Search for the Meanings of Madness, discusses the work of the Hearing Voices Movement in the UK, peer run support communities including Freedom Center in the US, and why professionals should let patients speak for themselves. http://www.gailhornstein.com http://bit.ly/aG9bnS

Madness Radio: Violent Voices Erica van den Akker

First Aired 4-2-2010

People who hear voices are no more violent than anyone else -- but what about the small number of voice hearers that do actually commit violent crimes? Are medications and locked wards the best way to help those who act on their aggressive "command hallucinations?" What is the relationship between trauma, violence, and voices? Dutch psychiatric social worker and Hearing Voices Movement member Erica van den Akker discusses her innovative counseling work with violent offenders in the Netherlands. alpouvar1(at) tomaatnet(dot)nl

Madness Radio: Schizophrenia Psychotherapy Catherine Penney

First Aired 1-21-2010

Can a severe, chronic case of "schizophrenia" ever recover? Is psychotherapy an alternative to medications? What role does trauma play in madness? Hear the inspiring story of how Catherine Penney, RN, was catatonic and locked in a hospital back ward for years, and then emerged to create a new alternative healing community. www.dantescure.com www.desertgathering.com www.iraresoul.com/dvd.html

Madness Radio: Ireland Voices Brian Hartnett

First Aired 12-16-2009

Can recreational drugs be an opening to genuine spiritual awakening? Brian Hartnett's passion for rave dance music -- as well as alcohol and ecstasy -- cost him his career. Doctors labeled his paranoia, telepathy, and voices symptoms of schizophrenia. But Brian went on to become one of the founders of Hearing Voices Ireland, and discover a new, heightened spirituality. www.voicesireland.com

Madness Radio: Beyond Belief Tamasin Knight

First Aired 9-16-2009

How do we respond to bizarre beliefs like CIA brain chips, abduction by aliens, hearing voices, spirit possession, or telepathy? Is respect for a different reality "colluding" with a delusion? Or is there meaning in madness? Medical doctor Tamasin Knight was hospitalized for delusions, and went on to write the practical guidebook Beyond Belief: Alternative Ways of Working with Delusions, Obsessions and Unusual Experiences, available as a free download at www.peter-lehmann-publishing.com/books/b....

Madness Radio: Art and Schizophrenia Louis Sass

First Aired 6-30-2009

Does modern art, such as Artaud, Beckett, and Duchamp, parallel the mad frames of mind that get labeled "schizophrenia?" Is extreme sensitivity and inner self-consciousness behind artistic innovation and breaks with reality? Rutgers University psychologist Louis Sass, author of Madness And Modernism: Insanity in the Light of Modern Art, Literature, and Thought, discusses art as an insight into the subjective inner world of madness. lsass@rci.rutgers.edu

Madness Radio: Hearing Voices Movement Jacqui Dillon

First Aired 6-16-2009

What is it like to hear voices? How do people learn to live with their voices, and are voices sometimes positive and helpful? What is the connection between voices and trauma? Jacqui Dillon, voice hearer and director of the UK Hearing Voices Network, discusses how the movement of people who hear voices is creating self-help alternatives to traditional and often abusive mental health care. www.intervoiceonline.org, www.caslcampaign.com.