A Brief History of HVN
(Newsweek)
Drs. Sandra Escher & Marius Romme |
Patsy Hage
|
The Hearing Voices Movement is based largely on the work of social psychiatrist Dr. Marius Romme and his partner/research colleague Dr. Sandra Escher of the Netherlands. It was Marius’s work with his voice-hearing patient Patsy Hage that created the foundation of HVN.
Patsy heard commanding voices and experienced great emotional distress. Marius wanted to help Patsy but was limited by his mainstream training that viewed her voices as hallucinations that were not real. Such thinking wasn’t useful to Patsy, and she challenged Marius’s attitude by making a simple observation.
Patsy noticed a crucifix on the wall of Marius's office. She asked if he believed in God, to which Marius confidently answered yes. Patsy then expressed a brilliant and astute challenge that would lead to the birth of a worldwide movement.
“You believe in a God we never see or hear, so why shouldn't you believe in the voices I really do hear?”
Marius considered these words and gradually realized the hypocrisy of his beliefs. Patsy’s voices were real because she heard them. Instead of believing the only way forward was for Patsy’s voices to disappear, he and Patsy began to explore their characteristics as well as her relationship with them; discovering meaning, purpose, and skills along the way.
Patsy and Marius appeared on a Dutch television show to tell the story of their work together. The host asked viewers with similar experiences to call in. They were overwhelmed with phone calls. The resulting interviews revealed a groundbreaking statistic: two-thirds of the callers who heard voices had no relationship with the mental health system at all. This discovery shows there are many possible relationships we can have with voices and other unusual and extreme experiences. Viewing them as mental illness is just one way.
Marius also witnessed the power of peer support when he observed Patsy and other voice hearers exchanging ideas with one another. Marius realized experiencers — the real experts — could understand each other better than he and his professional training ever could.
The first Hearing Voices groups were formed in the UK in 1988 — and a global movement was born. Hearing Voices Networks have been established in over 26 countries with thousands of groups worldwide.
The Pacific Rim Hearing Voices Network was founded in 2019 with support from the Foundation for Excellence in Mental Health Care.
Patsy heard commanding voices and experienced great emotional distress. Marius wanted to help Patsy but was limited by his mainstream training that viewed her voices as hallucinations that were not real. Such thinking wasn’t useful to Patsy, and she challenged Marius’s attitude by making a simple observation.
Patsy noticed a crucifix on the wall of Marius's office. She asked if he believed in God, to which Marius confidently answered yes. Patsy then expressed a brilliant and astute challenge that would lead to the birth of a worldwide movement.
“You believe in a God we never see or hear, so why shouldn't you believe in the voices I really do hear?”
Marius considered these words and gradually realized the hypocrisy of his beliefs. Patsy’s voices were real because she heard them. Instead of believing the only way forward was for Patsy’s voices to disappear, he and Patsy began to explore their characteristics as well as her relationship with them; discovering meaning, purpose, and skills along the way.
Patsy and Marius appeared on a Dutch television show to tell the story of their work together. The host asked viewers with similar experiences to call in. They were overwhelmed with phone calls. The resulting interviews revealed a groundbreaking statistic: two-thirds of the callers who heard voices had no relationship with the mental health system at all. This discovery shows there are many possible relationships we can have with voices and other unusual and extreme experiences. Viewing them as mental illness is just one way.
Marius also witnessed the power of peer support when he observed Patsy and other voice hearers exchanging ideas with one another. Marius realized experiencers — the real experts — could understand each other better than he and his professional training ever could.
The first Hearing Voices groups were formed in the UK in 1988 — and a global movement was born. Hearing Voices Networks have been established in over 26 countries with thousands of groups worldwide.
The Pacific Rim Hearing Voices Network was founded in 2019 with support from the Foundation for Excellence in Mental Health Care.