Hearing Voices NYC is happy to announce our collaboration with the #EmergingProud campaign! #EmergingProud is ultimately a campaign about providing hope; that breaking down does not mean we are broken; it means that we can be amidst a difficult journey to ‘breakthrough’.

The launch of International #EmergingProud day on Friday, May 12th, aims to expand the public perception of ‘normal’ all over the world. The event brings together collaboration from many organizations and 8 countries, seeing all voices join to bring evolution in mental health support, and will also include premiere screenings of CRAZYWISE. Together, we are creating a new global movement towards a dream we all share. For more information on the campaign go to: http://www.emergingproud.com/

What:

Screening of the film CRAZYWISE with panel featuring:

Sascha Altman DuBrul– NYC Icarus Project & Institute for the Development of Human Arts

Issa Ibrahim– Author of The Hospitals Always Wins 

Peri Zarrella- Hearing Voices Network NYC

Kevin Tomlinson– Director & Executive Producer of CRAZYWISE

When: 

May 12th 2017

Doors open at 6:30pm, Screening starts at 7pm

Where:

NYU Langone Hospital at First Ave and 30th Alumni Hall A

Sponsored by:

International Society for the Psychological and Social Approaches to Psychosis – United States Chapter 

Icarus Project NYC 

Institute for the Development of Human Arts

Hearing Voices NYC 

We wanted to send a huge thank you to everyone who donated money at our event “What Can We Learn From People Who Hear Voices?” and a special thanks to The International Society for Psychological & Social Approaches to Psychosis (ISPS-US) for sponsoring us!

The event, featuring Jacqui Dillion, Gail Hornstein, Noel Hunter, & Greg Shankland, raised over $2,500 dollars to support the development of Hearing Voices Groups in the United States. With the money, Hearing Voices NYC is going to set up a FREE training for people interested in becoming facilitators for Hearing Voices Groups (most likely in June). Stay tuned for more details…

This event was previously scheduled for 2/9 but cancelled due to snow. NEW DATE: March 2nd 2017, 6-8pm

What: The NADA Protocol is a special type of acupressure/acupuncture used for emotional distress that can be administered by anyone. It is a non-verbal approach to healing that includes non-invasive beads, seeds, or acupuncture needles in the ear. This training was inspired by Will Hall’s most recent Madness Radio Podcast on the subject.

When: March 2nd 2017 at 6-8pm

Where: Jefferson Market Library 425 6th Ave (at 10th Street) 

What to expect: This is a hands-on workshop. Participants will experience for themselves the NADA protocol (i.e., acupressure with beads while sitting quietly). Participants will then be asked to share their experiences with the group and will practice placing the beads on others. There will be plenty of time for questions & answers. The instructor is Jo Ann Lenney, an expert trainer with NADA.

All welcome!

Evolutions of Us

Saturday, February 18 – Saturday, March 11, 2017

Reception: Saturday, February 18, 2:30-4:00pm

Being Neighborly presents “Evolutions of Us,” an exhibition of works by the self-taught artists,curated by School of Visual Arts MPS graduate art therapy students. The exhibition is on view at:

SVA West 132 W 21st Street, 5th Floor Gallery.

A group of self-taught artists organize a show about their evolution as individuals and as a collective. The process started twenty-two years ago, when many of these artists first began meeting, creating and exhibiting their art at the Hospital Audiences Inc. (HAI). In 2011 the studio and gallery moved from Manhattan to Long Island City Queens and the name changed to the Healing Arts Initiative (with the same acronym). Membership grew, both in numbers and communal bonds until May 2016 when HAI abruptly filed for bankruptcy. This tight-knit group, all who confront social marginalization and stigmatization, experienced the loss of their creative community as traumatic.

Determined to regain what they had lost, the artists united with their mentor Francis Palazzolo organize art projects around the goal of Being Neighborly. Together they engage with people of diverse backgrounds to form connections and learn from each other through art. In this latest incarnation selected artists collaborate with SVA graduate art therapy students to exhibit this journey. The artists’ adaptation, survival skills and tenacity to continue making art despite the challenges they face is a model social justice. Please join us to support their efforts.

Selected Artists: Aracelis Rivera, Lawrence Willoughby, Vincent Salas, Georgia Redd, Michael Johnson, Jenny Chan, Cynthia Timms, Ray Lopez, Laura Anne Walker, Girl Negron, El Kuumba & Linda Moses.

Graduate Student Curators: Yi-Chien Chang, Saeideh Goiji, RJ Huguenard, Laura Hetzel, Andrea Juliano, Rebecca Rodas, Gabby Simpson

Flyer: evolution of us copy

Leah Rokeach LCSW  has been co-facilitating a bi-monthly Hearing Voices Group Jewish Orthodox men in the Boro Park section of Brooklyn for past two years. It is an open group and the co-facilitator is a voice hearer. The group meets on Mondays from 4pm to 5:30pm. In mid February, Leah will start a new Hearing Voices style group for Jewish Orthodox women, which will include not only voice hearers, but also women experiencing overwhelming fears, dissociation, seeing visions. It will meet bi-monthly, on alternate Mondays.  The co-facilitator of this group will be a young woman who is an expert by experience.

Contact Leah for more information: [email protected]

The NADA Training at Jefferson Market Library has been cancelled due to the coming snowstorm. New dates coming soon!

The International Hearing Voices Congress is slated to land in the United States for the first time ever in 2017, but needs financial support to ensure that can happen. The Congress is an annual gathering that brings together voice hearers and others from across the world who are invested in the oft life-changing nature of the ‘Hearing Voices’ approach. This 9th edition of the con-ference will be held at Boston University from August 16 to 18, with Hearing Voices USA (in collaboration with Intervoice, the international group founded to support Hearing Voices development across the world) serving as the host. We anticipate participants from not only the US, but also England, Australia, Japan, Greece, France, Ireland and more who will come together to share in their extensive personal and professional experiences and wisdom.

What is the ’Hearing Voices’ approach?: The ’Hearing Voices’ approach seeks to help people make meaning of experiences like hearing voices, seeing vi-sions, and other unusual phenomenon. Unlike most conventional schools of thought, Hearing Voices does not assume that voice hearing (etc.) is inherently bad or the product of an illness, nor does it assume that the only solution is to try and get rid of or put an end to that experience. Instead, it opens the door to many perspec-tives, to the idea that voice hearing (etc.) can be integrated into a full and happy life, and that one of the most important steps to moving forward is having the support needed to feel heard and explore one’s own answers.

“A Hearing Voices group was the first time anyone ever listened to what was going on for me, rather than argu-ing that it wasn’t real and just trying to drug it away. I went from fearing my voices to understanding that they represented traumas in my past, and that they had real meaning. I went from going in and out of the hospital to having a job, friends, and my own place. It’s changed my life.” – Group attendee

What is Hearing Voices USA?: Hearing Voices USA is committed to increased access across the country to Hearing Voices-related information, educational opportunities, and support. At present, it is an all-volunteer organization supported by a Board of Directors primarily made up of individuals who themselves have had ex-periences with voice hearing or similar phenomenon.

What is the expected impact of the Congress (and why should you care)? The Congress will serve as a prime opportunity to build buy-in, network, share information and reach people who might otherwise never come to know about the Hearing Voices movement. It will jump start momentum and create an invaluable opportunity for many people and groups to bring Hearing Voices information and trainings back to their respective areas. As it currently stands, people who hear voices (etc.) are still uniformly being told that they have a lifelong ill-ness with limited treatment options that will necessitate them lowering their expectations for their life. In this way, the US lags far behind dozens of other countries in making this knowledge available.

However, Hearing Voices USA needs your help to make this conference hap-pen. We are seeking to raise $40,000 by June, 2017 to cover food, translation, scholarships, and so much else that will not be able to be covered strictly by registration fees. To contribute please e-mail us at [email protected] or visit our fundraising page at https://igg.me/at/cafomtAOJZo

It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of one of our comrades. R.I.P. Rodney. We will miss you. <3