I have had a long think about how to get started and have decided to offer 2 monthly spaces online (zoom).

These spaces will be open to anyone who is facilitating or co-facilitating a hearing voices group. 

I am aware that there may be different preferences and needs in terms of how open/closed the space is, how big the group is and whether people are involved in facilitating groups within services or in the community. 

But to get started I feel it may be most important that the space is there to meet and talk and figure things out together. The space may change over time and may be part of setting up separate peer supervision groups.

I also have to be honest about what I personally am able to offer and what feels sustainable to me.

The two meetings will be run in two different ways. 

One group will be an open peer supervision style which means that people can bring topics/issue they would like to hear other people’s thoughts on. More HERE.

The other will be a reflective space with one topic to talk about together. More HERE

Values that underpin the spaces:

• Hearing voices is a common human experience that anyone can have at any point in their lives. Even though we use the term ‘hearing voices’, we acknowledge that the experience is different for each person. It can include other sensory experiences, altered or heightened states of mind and there is no correct way to name the experience.
• There is no correct way to run a Hearing Voices Group. Each group has strengths and limitations and will appeal to different people. 
• Everyone has wisdom and expertise about life, about themselves and about navigating difficult things
• There is no one right way to do things. We all understand the world in our own way and what works for one person may not be useful to someone else. So we respect our differences.
• We try our best to share the space so that everyone gets to talk if they want to.
• We are aware that we all have different ways of talking, we all have different backgrounds and we may not have the same relationship with certain words or ways of saying things, so we try and be gentle with each other and how we express ourselves.
• Everyone can choose how much or how little to contribute and participate. Each person is trusted to do what works best for them.

If you have any questions – about the spaces, using zoom or anything else – please get in touch openmindedtraining@gmail.com