Posts

Moving On (2007)

Moving On An extract from a training film produced in collaboration with Sam Warner – a psychologist

 

Voices In Your Head? You May Not Be Crazy

Published in: The Times, 27 January 2007, By Michelle Kirsch

We have all had the experience of seeing a person walking down the road, talking loudly to what appears to be him or herself. Before the advent of hands-free mobile phones, which gives the scene a “sane” context, we would have thought the person disturbed, speaking to someone who does not exist outside his own head. Now psychologists studying the phenomenon of hearing voices are asking us to consider two other possibilities: one is that people who hear voices may not be disturbed by them, and the other is that a person who appears to be speaking on a mobile phone might be speaking to one of his voices.

Pretending to speak on a mobile phone is just one strategy that makes life more bearable for the estimated 4 per cent of Britons who hear voices. The 4 per cent figure, as cited by the Hearing Voices Network, an educational and self-help registered charity for voice-hearers, is a conservative estimate. The real figure may be much higher, they say, because anyone who admits to hearing voices may be subjected to close, perhaps unwelcome, psychiatric scrutiny

Read more: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/article1295311.ece

In Your Head: Hearing Voices

Published in: Psychology Today, January 1, 2007, by William Lee Adams

Despite their association with mental illness, auditory hallucinations don’t always torment those who hear them. In fact, only one out of every three so-called “voice hearers” requires psychiatric help. The other two don’t experience difficulties and may even consider their voices supportive or inspiring.

“My voices know me better than anyone else, and they also protect and comfort me,” says Jacqui Dillon, head of a London support group for voice hearers. She and other group members report that voices can alert them to oncoming cars and suspicious passersby, provide encouragement during stressful times, and offer reminders to pick things up at the grocery store.

Whether they threaten or soothe, auditory hallucinations usually begin after trauma: Seventy percent of people who hear voices first detect them following physical or sexual abuse, an accident, or the loss of a loved one. “The emotion they feel about their trauma complicates how they interpret the voices,” says Sara Tai, a psychologist at the University of Manchester in England who studies why some hallucinators thrive while others end up in psychiatric care. Typically, the greater the trauma, the more likely voices will sound threatening.

Read More: http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200701/in-your-head-hearing-voices

Mental Health

Mental Health

On The Web

Centre for Mental Healthwww.centreformentalhealth.org.uk
Working to improve the quality of life of those affected by mental ill health, focussing primarily on research and influencing policy. They place particular emphasis on employment and the criminal justice system

Maytree: A Sanctuary For The Suicidalwww.maytree.org.uk
A short stay in a safe residential setting where you can talk, reflect and rest – and restore hope. Maytree is a place where you will be heard, respected and accepted, without judgement and in confidence

Mental Health Forumwww.mentalhealthforum.net
Discussion forum about all aspects of mental health.

MINDwww.mind.org.uk
Provides advice and information on mental health.

Papyrus UKwww.papyrus-uk.org
A voluntary UK organisation committed to the prevention of young suicide and the promotion of mental health and emotional wellbeing. Includes Hopeline UK (a helpline providing support, information and advice)

Psychmindedwww.psychminded.co.uk
For all who work in psychiatry, psychology and mental health.

In Print

Baker, B. (2010). Diary Drawings: Mental Illness and Me. Profile Books.

Bentall, R. (2011). A Straight-Talking Introduction to Psychiatric Diagnosis. PCCS Books.

Kilyon, J. and Smith, T. (2010). A Straight-Talking Introduction to Caring for Someone with Mental Health Problems. PCCS Books.

Moncrieff, J. (2010). A Straight-Talking Introduction to Psychiatric Drugs. PCCS Books.

Pilgrim, D. (2010). A Straight-Talking Introduction to Psychological Treatments for Mental Health Problems. PCCS Books.

Read, J. and Sanders, P. (2010). A Straight Talking Introduction to the Causes of Mental Health Problems. Ross-on-Wye: PCCS Books.

Timimi, S. (2010). A Straight-Talking Introduction to Children’s Mental Health Problems. PCCS Books.

A role model in the Hearing Voices Movement

For us Jacqui is unique and it is a great pleasure having known her for many reasons personally as well professionally. Jacqui survived terrible abuse and became strong by using her experience to learn from it. She is one of the few people who is able to really understand that the voices are related to her life history and even more important allow herself to feel it. This combination of understanding on a rational and emotional level became her power. This also enables her to be the caring mother of 2 teenage daughters.

As a professional from experience Jacqui is a role model in the Hearing Voices Movement. She has developed a qualitatively very good course in setting up and guiding Hearing Voices Groups. She has helped many individuals to better cope with their voices and their problems in their lives. She is a very good speaker and has a lot to tell about the voice hearing experience and their backgrounds. She has written many very good articles and book chapters. She especially clearly explains the interaction between different consequences of traumatic experiences like hearing voices, dissociation, self harm and eating disorders. She has a lot to give and a lot to teach professionals and also voice hearers. Besides all this she is Chairing the English Hearing Voices Movement and a member of the Board of Intervoice.

Marius Romme & Sandra Escher

Book Me

Please contact me if you would like to book me for conferences, training or consultancy work – or to explore how these might benefit your organisation.

Organisations I have worked with in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, UK and USA include:

  • Aarhus Kommune (Denmark)
  • Advocates, Inc. Framingham (USA)
  • Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust
  • Asylum Associates
  • Barnet, Enfield & Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust
  • Beside Mental Health Community Project
  • Building Bridges Trust (New Zealand)
  • Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust
  • Camden and Islington Providers Forum
  • Care Services Improvement Services
  • Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Trust
  • Chester Mind
  • City & Hackney Mind
  • Community Service Volunteers
  • Core Arts
  • Critical Voices Network (Ireland)
  • Dansk Selskab for Psykosocial Rehabilitering (Denmark)
  • Down & Lisburn Mental Health Trust (Ireland)
  • Division of Clinical Psychology
  • Durham University
  • Enfield Council
  • Equinox Care
  • Family Care Foundation (Sweden)
  • Family Tree
  • Family Welfare Association
  • Foundation Excellence in Mental Health (USA)
  • Freedom Centre, Northampton, Massachusetts, (USA)
  • Freud’s Friends
  • Gateway Community Health, Wodonga (Australia)
  • Goldsmiths University
  • Hampshire Social Services
  • Hearing Voices Network
  • Hellenic Hearing Voices Network (Greece)
  • Hertfordshire County Council
  • HM Prison Birmingham
  • Institute of Psychiatry
  • Intervoice
  • IGPB (Netherlands)
  • ISPS (New Zealand)
  • ISPS (UK)
  • Islington Mind
  • Lambeth Mind
  • Lancaster University
  • Leeds Mind
  • Lincoln University
  • London Borough of Sutton
  • London Cyrenians Housing Ltd.
  • London Development Centre
  • London Metropolitan University
  • London South Bank University
  • Loughborough University
  • Mad in America (USA)
  • The Market Place Leeds
  • Mental Health Media
  • Middlesbrough Mind
  • Mind in Camden
  • Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts, (USA)
  • National Mind
  • Network for Change
  • Newham NHS Trust
  • Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
  • Northampton Social Services
  • Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust
  • Notting Hill Housing Association
  • National Survivor User Network
  • One Housing Group
  • Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust
  • Prahran Mission (Australia)
  • Psykovision (Denmark)
  • Rampton Hospital, Nottingham Healthcare NHS Trust
  • Rethink
  • Richmond Fellowship (Australia)
  • Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council
  • Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
  • Royal College Of Psychiatry
  • Schizophrenia Ireland
  • SHIP Leeds
  • Shropshire Council
  • Social Care Institute for Excellence
  • South Staffordshire and Shropshire NHS Foundation Trust
  • Spring Lake Ranch (USA)
  • St James House
  • St Mungo’s
  • Sutton Mental Health Foundation
  • Thames Reach
  • Tiger Aspect Films
  • Tigerlily Films
  • Together
  • Trinity College Dublin (Ireland)
  • University College Cork (Ireland)
  • University College London
  • University of Auckland (New Zealand)
  • University of East London
  • University of Essex
  • University of Greenwich
  • University of Manchester
  • University of Savonna (Italy)
  • University Of Surrey
  • Voice Collective
  • Voices of the Heart (USA)
  • Voices Vic (Australia)
  • Western Mass Recovery Learning Community (USA)
  • Westminster Mind
  • Wolverhampton Social Services
  • Working to Recovery

Conferences

Jacqui giving a presentation

Conferences:

I am an experienced and accomplished public speaker. I have spoken at numerous national and international conferences and events for both statutory and non-government organisations.

I have been a keynote speaker at a variety of events on a diverse range of subjects. My specialist areas of expertise are:

  • Personal experiences of ‘madness’ and recovery
  • Hearing voices and ‘psychosis’
  • Critiquing biomedical approaches to madness and distress
  • Trauma and abuse
  • Ritual abuse
  • Dissociation and multiplicity

Biography

Jacqui Dillon was born and bred in East London where she still lives. She is a respected campaigner, writer, international speaker and trainer specialising in hearing voices, ‘psychosis’, dissociation, trauma, abuse, healing and recovery. Jacqui has worked within mental health services for more than 15 years, in a variety of settings, including community, acute, low, medium and high secure settings, prisons, colleges and universities.

Jacqui is the national Chair of the Hearing Voices Network in England and a key figure in the Hearing Voices Movement internationally. She is Honorary Lecturer in Clinical Psychology at the University of East London, Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Medicine, Pharmacy and Health at Durham University and Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for Community Mental Health, Birmingham City University.

Along with Professor Marius Romme and Dr Sandra Escher she is the co-editor of Living with Voices, an anthology of 50 voice hearers’ stories of recovery. She is also co-editor of Demedicalising Misery: Psychiatry, Psychology and the Human Condition and Models of Madness: Psychological, Social and Biological Approaches to Psychosis (2nd Edition). Jacqui has published numerous articles and papers and is on the editorial board of the journal Psychosis: Psychological, Social and Integrative Approaches.

Jacqui’s experiences of surviving childhood abuse and subsequent experiences of using psychiatric services inform her work and she is an outspoken advocate and campaigner for trauma informed approaches to madness and distress. She was nominated for Mind Champion of the Year Award 2009 for her outstanding contribution to increasing understanding of mental health.

Jacqui is proud to be a part of a collective voice demanding a radical shift in the way we make sense of and respond to experiences currently defined as psychiatric illnesses. Alongside her work which she is passionate about, Jacqui enjoys swimming, dancing, laughing and spending time with the people she loves, especially her children.

 

Pages

Moving On (2007)

Moving On An extract from a training film produced in collaboration with Sam Warner – a psychologist

 

Voices In Your Head? You May Not Be Crazy

Published in: The Times, 27 January 2007, By Michelle Kirsch

We have all had the experience of seeing a person walking down the road, talking loudly to what appears to be him or herself. Before the advent of hands-free mobile phones, which gives the scene a “sane” context, we would have thought the person disturbed, speaking to someone who does not exist outside his own head. Now psychologists studying the phenomenon of hearing voices are asking us to consider two other possibilities: one is that people who hear voices may not be disturbed by them, and the other is that a person who appears to be speaking on a mobile phone might be speaking to one of his voices.

Pretending to speak on a mobile phone is just one strategy that makes life more bearable for the estimated 4 per cent of Britons who hear voices. The 4 per cent figure, as cited by the Hearing Voices Network, an educational and self-help registered charity for voice-hearers, is a conservative estimate. The real figure may be much higher, they say, because anyone who admits to hearing voices may be subjected to close, perhaps unwelcome, psychiatric scrutiny

Read more: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/article1295311.ece

In Your Head: Hearing Voices

Published in: Psychology Today, January 1, 2007, by William Lee Adams

Despite their association with mental illness, auditory hallucinations don’t always torment those who hear them. In fact, only one out of every three so-called “voice hearers” requires psychiatric help. The other two don’t experience difficulties and may even consider their voices supportive or inspiring.

“My voices know me better than anyone else, and they also protect and comfort me,” says Jacqui Dillon, head of a London support group for voice hearers. She and other group members report that voices can alert them to oncoming cars and suspicious passersby, provide encouragement during stressful times, and offer reminders to pick things up at the grocery store.

Whether they threaten or soothe, auditory hallucinations usually begin after trauma: Seventy percent of people who hear voices first detect them following physical or sexual abuse, an accident, or the loss of a loved one. “The emotion they feel about their trauma complicates how they interpret the voices,” says Sara Tai, a psychologist at the University of Manchester in England who studies why some hallucinators thrive while others end up in psychiatric care. Typically, the greater the trauma, the more likely voices will sound threatening.

Read More: http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200701/in-your-head-hearing-voices

Mental Health

Mental Health

On The Web

Centre for Mental Healthwww.centreformentalhealth.org.uk
Working to improve the quality of life of those affected by mental ill health, focussing primarily on research and influencing policy. They place particular emphasis on employment and the criminal justice system

Maytree: A Sanctuary For The Suicidalwww.maytree.org.uk
A short stay in a safe residential setting where you can talk, reflect and rest – and restore hope. Maytree is a place where you will be heard, respected and accepted, without judgement and in confidence

Mental Health Forumwww.mentalhealthforum.net
Discussion forum about all aspects of mental health.

MINDwww.mind.org.uk
Provides advice and information on mental health.

Papyrus UKwww.papyrus-uk.org
A voluntary UK organisation committed to the prevention of young suicide and the promotion of mental health and emotional wellbeing. Includes Hopeline UK (a helpline providing support, information and advice)

Psychmindedwww.psychminded.co.uk
For all who work in psychiatry, psychology and mental health.

In Print

Baker, B. (2010). Diary Drawings: Mental Illness and Me. Profile Books.

Bentall, R. (2011). A Straight-Talking Introduction to Psychiatric Diagnosis. PCCS Books.

Kilyon, J. and Smith, T. (2010). A Straight-Talking Introduction to Caring for Someone with Mental Health Problems. PCCS Books.

Moncrieff, J. (2010). A Straight-Talking Introduction to Psychiatric Drugs. PCCS Books.

Pilgrim, D. (2010). A Straight-Talking Introduction to Psychological Treatments for Mental Health Problems. PCCS Books.

Read, J. and Sanders, P. (2010). A Straight Talking Introduction to the Causes of Mental Health Problems. Ross-on-Wye: PCCS Books.

Timimi, S. (2010). A Straight-Talking Introduction to Children’s Mental Health Problems. PCCS Books.

A role model in the Hearing Voices Movement

For us Jacqui is unique and it is a great pleasure having known her for many reasons personally as well professionally. Jacqui survived terrible abuse and became strong by using her experience to learn from it. She is one of the few people who is able to really understand that the voices are related to her life history and even more important allow herself to feel it. This combination of understanding on a rational and emotional level became her power. This also enables her to be the caring mother of 2 teenage daughters.

As a professional from experience Jacqui is a role model in the Hearing Voices Movement. She has developed a qualitatively very good course in setting up and guiding Hearing Voices Groups. She has helped many individuals to better cope with their voices and their problems in their lives. She is a very good speaker and has a lot to tell about the voice hearing experience and their backgrounds. She has written many very good articles and book chapters. She especially clearly explains the interaction between different consequences of traumatic experiences like hearing voices, dissociation, self harm and eating disorders. She has a lot to give and a lot to teach professionals and also voice hearers. Besides all this she is Chairing the English Hearing Voices Movement and a member of the Board of Intervoice.

Marius Romme & Sandra Escher

Book Me

Please contact me if you would like to book me for conferences, training or consultancy work – or to explore how these might benefit your organisation.

Organisations I have worked with in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, UK and USA include:

  • Aarhus Kommune (Denmark)
  • Advocates, Inc. Framingham (USA)
  • Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust
  • Asylum Associates
  • Barnet, Enfield & Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust
  • Beside Mental Health Community Project
  • Building Bridges Trust (New Zealand)
  • Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust
  • Camden and Islington Providers Forum
  • Care Services Improvement Services
  • Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Trust
  • Chester Mind
  • City & Hackney Mind
  • Community Service Volunteers
  • Core Arts
  • Critical Voices Network (Ireland)
  • Dansk Selskab for Psykosocial Rehabilitering (Denmark)
  • Down & Lisburn Mental Health Trust (Ireland)
  • Division of Clinical Psychology
  • Durham University
  • Enfield Council
  • Equinox Care
  • Family Care Foundation (Sweden)
  • Family Tree
  • Family Welfare Association
  • Foundation Excellence in Mental Health (USA)
  • Freedom Centre, Northampton, Massachusetts, (USA)
  • Freud’s Friends
  • Gateway Community Health, Wodonga (Australia)
  • Goldsmiths University
  • Hampshire Social Services
  • Hearing Voices Network
  • Hellenic Hearing Voices Network (Greece)
  • Hertfordshire County Council
  • HM Prison Birmingham
  • Institute of Psychiatry
  • Intervoice
  • IGPB (Netherlands)
  • ISPS (New Zealand)
  • ISPS (UK)
  • Islington Mind
  • Lambeth Mind
  • Lancaster University
  • Leeds Mind
  • Lincoln University
  • London Borough of Sutton
  • London Cyrenians Housing Ltd.
  • London Development Centre
  • London Metropolitan University
  • London South Bank University
  • Loughborough University
  • Mad in America (USA)
  • The Market Place Leeds
  • Mental Health Media
  • Middlesbrough Mind
  • Mind in Camden
  • Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts, (USA)
  • National Mind
  • Network for Change
  • Newham NHS Trust
  • Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
  • Northampton Social Services
  • Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust
  • Notting Hill Housing Association
  • National Survivor User Network
  • One Housing Group
  • Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust
  • Prahran Mission (Australia)
  • Psykovision (Denmark)
  • Rampton Hospital, Nottingham Healthcare NHS Trust
  • Rethink
  • Richmond Fellowship (Australia)
  • Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council
  • Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
  • Royal College Of Psychiatry
  • Schizophrenia Ireland
  • SHIP Leeds
  • Shropshire Council
  • Social Care Institute for Excellence
  • South Staffordshire and Shropshire NHS Foundation Trust
  • Spring Lake Ranch (USA)
  • St James House
  • St Mungo’s
  • Sutton Mental Health Foundation
  • Thames Reach
  • Tiger Aspect Films
  • Tigerlily Films
  • Together
  • Trinity College Dublin (Ireland)
  • University College Cork (Ireland)
  • University College London
  • University of Auckland (New Zealand)
  • University of East London
  • University of Essex
  • University of Greenwich
  • University of Manchester
  • University of Savonna (Italy)
  • University Of Surrey
  • Voice Collective
  • Voices of the Heart (USA)
  • Voices Vic (Australia)
  • Western Mass Recovery Learning Community (USA)
  • Westminster Mind
  • Wolverhampton Social Services
  • Working to Recovery

Conferences

Jacqui giving a presentation

Conferences:

I am an experienced and accomplished public speaker. I have spoken at numerous national and international conferences and events for both statutory and non-government organisations.

I have been a keynote speaker at a variety of events on a diverse range of subjects. My specialist areas of expertise are:

  • Personal experiences of ‘madness’ and recovery
  • Hearing voices and ‘psychosis’
  • Critiquing biomedical approaches to madness and distress
  • Trauma and abuse
  • Ritual abuse
  • Dissociation and multiplicity

Biography

Jacqui Dillon was born and bred in East London where she still lives. She is a respected campaigner, writer, international speaker and trainer specialising in hearing voices, ‘psychosis’, dissociation, trauma, abuse, healing and recovery. Jacqui has worked within mental health services for more than 15 years, in a variety of settings, including community, acute, low, medium and high secure settings, prisons, colleges and universities.

Jacqui is the national Chair of the Hearing Voices Network in England and a key figure in the Hearing Voices Movement internationally. She is Honorary Lecturer in Clinical Psychology at the University of East London, Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Medicine, Pharmacy and Health at Durham University and Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for Community Mental Health, Birmingham City University.

Along with Professor Marius Romme and Dr Sandra Escher she is the co-editor of Living with Voices, an anthology of 50 voice hearers’ stories of recovery. She is also co-editor of Demedicalising Misery: Psychiatry, Psychology and the Human Condition and Models of Madness: Psychological, Social and Biological Approaches to Psychosis (2nd Edition). Jacqui has published numerous articles and papers and is on the editorial board of the journal Psychosis: Psychological, Social and Integrative Approaches.

Jacqui’s experiences of surviving childhood abuse and subsequent experiences of using psychiatric services inform her work and she is an outspoken advocate and campaigner for trauma informed approaches to madness and distress. She was nominated for Mind Champion of the Year Award 2009 for her outstanding contribution to increasing understanding of mental health.

Jacqui is proud to be a part of a collective voice demanding a radical shift in the way we make sense of and respond to experiences currently defined as psychiatric illnesses. Alongside her work which she is passionate about, Jacqui enjoys swimming, dancing, laughing and spending time with the people she loves, especially her children.