The Greene Clinic is excited to be hosting Jeannie Bass and Claire Bien for a Hearing Voices Network Facilitator Training. Details are below, including registration information which can be found here.

14 CEs, for 14 hours of training, are available for New York State psychologists, social workers, licensed mental health counselors and psychoanalysts. 

Friday, July 12th, 9am – 4pm — Saturday, July 13th, 9am – 4pm. 

✦ This event will be in-person and not recorded. Location will be at the Foundation for Community Psychoanalysis at 78 Livingston St. Brooklyn, NY 11201.

Attendance for CE credit will be limited to 10 attendees who register for both July 12th & July 13th, for a total of $250.  

Should you be interested in attending but not for CE credit, there will be a very limited number of spots.  Please email us at [email protected] and you will be put on a wait list, first come first serve.

Hearing Voices Network Facilitator Training with Jeannie Bass and Claire Bien 

This training will provide participants with a solid understanding of the Hearing Voices Movement approach, including the history, basic assumptions, core beliefs, and key values of the Hearing Voices Network (HVN). The HVN embraces voice-hearing and other unique experiences as a valid part of the human experience, countering the often-held clinical view that such experiences are merely symptoms to be eradicated. Participants will explore common frameworks, strategies, and practices for working with voices and creative ways to engage with voice hearers, with specific attention to forming and holding HVN groups in clinical settings. Jeannie and Claire, the trainers, draw from many years of experience facilitating HVN groups in clinical and restricted settings. There will be an emphasis on how clinicians can maintain HVN’s human experience values while operating within clinical environments and supporting the acceptance, exploration and validation of voice-hearing experiences. 

Participants will learn that voice hearers can develop mutually beneficial relationships with their voices through practices like voice diplomacy: exploring the nature and origins of voices, speaking with them, understanding their motivations, and negotiating the terms of the relationship. By validating rather than pathologizing the voice-hearing experience, voice hearers can move towards acceptance, shift power dynamics, reduce distress, discover the meaning behind their voices, and find community. Through immersive role-plays, creative exercises, and group discussions, participants will build empathy for the voice-hearing experience while acquiring facilitation skills. The process of creating and sustaining Hearing Voices groups that uphold the ethos of respect, equality and self-determination will also be covered.

Participants will receive certification as a Hearing Voices Network-USA group facilitator upon completion.

Jeannie Bass is a voice hearer & leader in the Hearing Voices Movement.  Her passion lies in bringing the transformative Hearing Voices Network approach to clinical and locked settings. Jeannie works as the Director of Peer Support Services at a mixed psychiatric and forensic hospital in Massachusetts, where she has facilitated an HVN-USA support group since 2014.  She is a long-time member of the HVN-USA Board of Directors. She co-founded the world’s first online Hearing Voices group in 2017 and has provided training on “psychosis” experiences in places like Guam. Jeannie’s story of embracing her voices and finding freedom through the Hearing Voices Movement was featured on NBC News in 2018.

Guided by the philosophy “And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music” (Friedrich Nietzsche), Jeannie is dedicated to validating the voice-hearing experience, exploring its meanings, and supporting those feeling stuck in a system that doesn’t understand them to learn to thrive while also living with “psychosis” – the core ethos driving her work.

Claire Bien, MEd, is a mental health advocate and educator, research associate at the Yale University Program for Recovery & Community Health, and author of a memoir: Hearing Voices, Living Fully: Living with the Voices in My Head. She is a member of the board of the Hearing Voices Network (HVN)-USA and is the immediate past president of the U.S. chapter of the International Society for Psychological and Social Approaches to Psychosis (ISPS-US). Claire started the HVN support group at Yale-New Haven Psychiatric Hospital in 2014 and has facilitated community-based and online support HVN support groups since 2017. Claire’s goal in doing this work is to help de-pathologize the voice-hearing experience and increase understanding that it is the social conditions of our lives that most profoundly affect people’s ability to live fully and with dignity in the world. 

The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki tells the story of a young voice hearer named Benny Oh. The novel is narrated by one of Benny’s voices, a book that tells the story of Benny’s life. Although Benny experiences mainstream psychiatric care including psychiatric hospitalization, it is not the medical model that helps Benny make sense of his life. 

Like many voice hearers, Benny makes meaning out of his experiences through developing relationships with fellow psychiatric survivors and voice hearers, and through finding ways to relate positively to his own voices. The Book of Form and Emptiness, which won the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2022, is a remarkable example of how the core principles and understandings of the Hearing Voices Network approach are reaching new audiences around the world. 

On Thursday, September 29th at 6PM Eastern, join us for a lively conversation with Ruth Ozeki and the Hearing Voices Network USA about the power of our voices and the stories we inhabit. Panelists include: Ruth Ozeki, Author; Jeannie Bass, Director of Peer Services and HVN-USA Board member; Claire Bien, Author, HVN-USA Board member, and president, ISPS-US; Derek Pyle, Writer and HVN support group facilitator. With thanks to Remy Blasko.

About the presenters:

Ruth Ozeki is a novelist, filmmaker, and Zen Buddhist priest. Her acclaimed novel, The Book of Form and Emptiness, published by Viking in September 2021, tells the story of a young boy who, after the death of his father, starts to hear voices and finds solace in the companionship of his very own book. 

Claire Bien is a Chinese immigrant, voice hearer, author, member of the HVN-USA board, and president of ISPS-US. She facilitates three HVN support groups – including one at Yale Psychiatric Hospital. Books, and the people in them, have provided her with great understanding and much guidance for ways of being in the world. 

Jeannie Bass is a voice hearer, member of the HVN-USA board of directors and Director of Peer Support Services in a Massachusetts public psychiatric hospital. She has facilitated an HVN group there since 2014. Her story was featured on NBC in 2018. Jeannie approaches life with a belief that there’s “no stronger connection between people than storytelling.” 

Derek Pyle has lived experience of hearing voices and visions, and he facilitates Hearing Voices Network groups online and in-person. His writing has appeared in Madness Network News, Mad in America, and Lion’s Roar.

Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-voices-behind-the-book-of-form-and-emptiness-registration-402399938047

Thursday, Sept. 24: Join this ISPS-US Webinar:
Life with Voices: A Guide for Harmony, with Dmitriy Gutkovich
September 24, 2020, 12:00 – 1:30 pm New York time zone.https://lifewithvoices.eventbrite.com

A positive voice ecosystem is one where voice-hearers talk to friendly voices, on enjoyable topics, and only when they are not busy. For voice hearers who do not want to or cannot get rid of their voices, achieving this positive voice ecosystem is key for a desired lifestyle. After a decade of lived experience and community leadership roles, Dmitriy Gutkovich has completed a book to help voice hearers achieve harmony with hostile voices and to avoid confusing beliefs, all while maintaining physical community.

Among the strategies presented will be understanding the motivations of distressing voices, defending against their attacks on attention and happiness, and navigating the relationships into harmony rather than hostility. Listeners will also gain insights on how to explain the hearing voices experience, and how to recruit a physical community that helps voice hearers, rather than causing additional pain.

Whether you are a voice-hearer, a family member, a friend, an academic, or a provider, this webinar aims to deepen your understanding, and to teach you the core skills for navigating, a life with voices.

About the Presenter
Dmitriy’s journey to help the hearing voices community has earned him leadership roles in 4 nonprofits (Hearing Voices Network USA, ISPS-US, HVN-NYC, and NYC PWC), an advisory role for the Yale Cope Project, and to being a coach, facilitator, and advocate for the hearing voices community. He is now also the author of the recently completed Life with Voices: A Guide for Harmony.https://www.lifewithvoices.com

His main projects include celebrating the stories of those with lived experience, and creating a forum where those with lived experience can share their tools and strategies for improving quality-of-life.

Register here.https://lifewithvoices.eventbrite.com
A donation of $5-$40 is requested, though no one turned away for lack of funds. Please note that your donation goes to a good cause: it supports the efforts of ISPS-US to bring more attention to psychological and social approaches to psychosis. Due to the pandemic, it is a difficult time for a small non-profit like ISPS-US, so any donation you can make is much appreciated!

But if you cannot afford to donate anything, there are instructions under “event description” on the website about how to register without donating.

ISPS-US webinars are recorded and shared on the ISPS US website. Those who register will be emailed a link to the recording when it becomes available.

For more information about the webinar, contact Ron Unger: [email protected]

Unfortunately, in-person support groups in New York have been cancelled due to COVID-19. However, there are several online support groups still running. For more information, check out the Hearing Voices USA page.

In addition, our film screening of Beyond Possible at CUNY has been cancelled.

We wish everyone good health!

What is it like to hear voices that others do not? What can we learn from those who have had these experiences and are now leading fulfilling lives? This film screening and panel discussion will feature insights from voice-hearers from many walks of life. It will also introduce the Hearing Voices approach, a collaborative and innovative way of supporting people with voices, visions and other unusual experiences.

Free & Open to the Public 

Screening will be followed by a panel discussion with individuals with lived experience of hearing voices 

Come to our FREE event with Institute for the Development of Human Arts

Register HERE

October 23rd, 2019 7-9pm

About this Event

BACKGROUND: HEARING VOICES NETWORK NYC

Those who hear voices or have other unusual perceptions have a long history of being cut out of the conversation regarding the true meaning of their experiences. Weighed down by labels of insanity and stigmas of being dangerous, the 5 to 15% of humans who experience these phenomena most often decline to self-identify, treating their rich inner worlds as a closely guarded secret. Hearing Voices Network is building a community where voice hearers and allies can reclaim their narrative – while sharing the insights, support, and strategies that are known to improve quality of life.

On October 23rd, IDHA is hosting an evening of community exploration centered on hearing voices and the experience of perceiving non-consensus reality. How can we challenge and shift inaccurate cultural labels when acknowledging our truths so often leads to significant social and career stigma? What are the alternative interpretations and strategies for living while hearing voices?We will be joined by an expert-by-training and an expert-by-experience from the Hearing Voices Network NYC Board to repaint the picture on voices and cultural norms, digging into the challenges of a human rights movement discredited before it even speaks. The presenters will share their work, relaying the hearing voices experience, non-medical solutions for maintaining happiness and stability, and the history of voice hearers from around the country and world coming together to emphatically declare “no” to labels and prejudices.

Presenters:

Dmitriy Gutkovich

Leah Rokeach, LCSW

This event is open to all people, including people with lived experience, family members, activists, allies, and psychiatrists or other mental health providers. We recognize a diverse set of perspectives, including people with lived experience who prefer medical explanations, as well as mental health professionals offering criticisms on their careers and research.

A full 5 to 13% of humanity hears voices during their lifetime. Whether they believe they are psychics or in need of psychiatry, talking to spirits or responding to satellites, most of these people will not self-identify or share their experience to family, friends, or community. What are these voices that others can’t hear? We suppose it is a matter of perspective…

To celebrate World Hearing Voices Day on Sept 14th, please join us to hear from five presenters with very different backgrounds and understandings of the hearing voices phenomenon. 

Please forward this message or share a #HearingVoices tag, and we hope to see you on Saturday the 14th 2:00 PM, at Perspectives on Hearing Voices.

Where: One Spirit Learning Alliance
247 West 36th Street 6th Floor
New York, NY

When: Saturday September 14th 2019 at 2pm

Cost: FREE but you must register: https://tinyurl.com/yxj5tprs