Impact:
Hearing Voices
Hearing Voices Research and Development
Hearing The Unheard
According to an international study*, 13% of the general population hears voices, commonly referred to as ‘auditory hallucinations’.
In the United States, the standard response is to pressure or force voice hearers to take psychotropic medications which many find ineffective and sometimes disabling. It doesn’t have to be this way.
In It Together
For more than thirty years, voice hearers outside the U.S. have been supporting one another through a network of Hearing Voices support groups, learning coping skills from one another, processing and healing from trauma, and often reducing or eliminating the burden of drugs they find unhelpful.
In 2012, visionary philanthropists from the UK and US teamed up with renowned research psychologist Dr. Gail Hornstein to train and establish a strong nationwide network of hundreds of Hearing Voices group facilitators and research the outcomes.
These social entrepreneurs have since planted over 60 groups in local communities and several online groups for those without a local group.
Life, Saved
Survey data are identifying the key elements that make these groups so effective in helping people cope with their voices and create full, meaningful lives.
A series of Open Excellence-funded papers is providing key evidence that the approach is safe and effective and leading the way for mental health professionals to provide better guidance and for health insurers and governments to offer this cost-effective, life-saving program to their beneficiaries.
The Time is Now
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the training team at Wildflower Alliance has created new online groups and assisted the national network of facilitators to transition their community groups to Zoom, reaching thousands of voice hearers in this critical time of need with the support of Open Excellence donors.