Ron Coleman made a special appearance last week to discuss his experience with hearing voices and the Hearing Voices Network, a group of organizations worldwide joined by shared goals and values, incorporating a fundamental belief that there are many ways to understand the experience of hearing voices and other unusual or extreme experiences.

Ron Coleman is a Director of Working to Recovery, Ltd., an innovative mental health training, consultancy & publishing business. He is also a director of the Hearing Voices Network USA’s online recovery training & practice site. At his special appearance for NAMI South Bay he described his training sessions and training packages to enable voice hearers to overcome the negative cultural stigma against the voice hearing experience. His own route to recovery, after spending 13 years in and out of the psychiatric system came from being a founder, member, and then national coordinator of the then UK hearing voices movement. He described some of his many insights into the difficult issues facing today’s mental health services, and his desire to help others gain autonomy and respect.

Presently, the goals of the Hearing Voices Network USA Include:

Raising awareness about voice hearing, visions and other unusual or extreme experiences

Supporting anyone who has had these experiences by providing opportunities to talk about them freely and without judgment amongst peers

Supporting anyone who has had these experiences to explore, understand, learn and grow from them in their own way

Supporting individuals providing treatment, family, friends and the general community to broaden their understanding and ability to support individuals who have had these experiences

Below is an interview of Ron Coleman and his wife, Karen Taylor, discussing Working to Recovery and the Hearing Voices Network.

Ron Coleman and Karen Taylor are presently on a tour with the following scheduled dates remaining. NAMI South Bay appreciates and thanks them for agreeing to add last week’s presentation to their very busy schedule.

• Working with Voices: An Introduction to the Hearing Voices Approach on April 15th from 9am to 4pm in Eagleville, Pennsylvania (Open ONLY to people in the local county. Click HERE for more details.
• A Conversation with Ron Coleman & Karen Taylor on Wednesday, April 16th from 7pm to 9pm @ Montgomery County Community College, Science Center, Room 214 (Auditorium), Pottstown, Click HERE for more details.
• A Voice Dialogue Workshop (Accepting, Liberating and Sharing the Voice Hearing Experience) on April 23rd from 10am to 4pm @ The Association for Research and Enlightenment of New York, 241 West 30th Street (between 7th and 8th Avenues), 2nd Floor. Click HERE for details.

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