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Telephone:
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Email: info@hvgl.co.uk
Marius Romme, Professor of Social Psychiatry at the University of Limburg in Maastricht the Netherlands started the Hearing Voices Movement.
Marius Romme's work started at the suggestion of one of his patients, Patsy Haagan, who, when being interviewed by him said "You believe in a God no one can see, so why don't you believe in the voices which I at least can definitely hear and which are real to me."
Romme accepted Patsy's voices. He invited other voice hearers to talk together about their experiences but found that although they could talk they didn't really help each other.
Patsy and Marius appeared on a Dutch TV programme talking about voices. They asked viewers who heard voices to phone in. 450 people phoned. Of these, 150 people said they coped without the assistance of psychiatry, indeed some said they were happy to hear voices.
Romme found this result surprising and led him to ask the crucial question, "could perhaps the techniques used by those who coped well with the voices be uses by those who didn't?"
Thus began Romme's study of the voice hearing experience. A conference was organised to encourage broader discussion. Would this change the attitude of society to voice hearers and their treatment by the medical professions?
Through this work the Dutch self-help group, Foundation Resonance, was established and in 1988 the first U.K. Hearing Voices Group was formed as a small planning group in Manchester. Members of the U.K. Group visited the Dutch Group many times and attended conferences organised by the Foundation. In return the English Group hosted visits from the Dutch workers.
Through this work the Dutch self-help group, Foundation Resonance, was established and in 1988 the first U.K. Hearing Voices Group was formed as a small planning group in Manchester. Members of the U.K. Group visited the Dutch Group many times and attended conferences organised by the Foundation. In return the English Group hosted visits from the Dutch workers.
1989 saw a speaking tour in the North of England for Romme and his colleagues Sandra Escher (science journalist) and Anse Streefland (non-patient voice hearer and chair of Resonance). These gatherings were well attended by voice hearers, their relatives and medical professionals.
Development of the movement continued over the years and the first international conference was held in the Netherlands in 1995. The work became the subject of a book by Romme and Escher published by Mind and entitled "Accepting Voices".
The Leeds Hearing Voices Group started in 1994 and has gained a membership of voice hearers of seventy and more and is increasing. The Group is supported by Leeds City Council Social Services and is contacted frequently by professionals with an interest in mental health.