Convention of People Who Hear Voices

[From article]
Recently, Waddingham and more than 200 other voice-hearers from around the world gathered in Thessaloniki, Greece, for the sixth annual World Hearing Voices Congress, organised by Intervoice, an international network of people who hear voices and their supporters. They reject the traditional idea that the voices are a symptom of mental illness. They recast voices as meaningful, albeit unusual, experiences, and believe that potential problems lie not in the voices themselves but in a person’s relationship with them.
[. . .]
The road to this form of recovery often begins in small support groups run by the worldwide Hearing Voices Network (HVN). Founded in the Netherlands in 1987, it allows members to share their stories and coping mechanisms – for example, setting appointments to talk with the voices, so that the voice-hearer can function without distraction the rest of the day – and above all gives voice-hearers a sense of community, as people rather than patients.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/the-enemy-within-people-who-hear-voices-in-their-heads-are-being-encouraged-to-talk-back-10001499.html

The enemy within: People who hear voices in their heads are being encouraged to talk back
WILLIAM LEE ADAMS
Sunday 25 January 2015

Independent (UK)