Hearing voices and listening to those that hear them

This paper is concerned with the experience of service users of a mental health Trust. The shared experience of the particular service user group is that of auditory hallucinations. The paper argues that mental health practitioners have, traditionally, not listened effectively to the subjective experience of voice hearing. By creating an environment in which service users can discuss their shared experience, the mental health practitioner can facilitate learning from experience and the development of 'common-sense' management strategies. Such strategies do not demand, or require, text book answers from health care professionals, but emerge from service users, through living with voice hearing. The work is interpreted through Parse's theory of human becoming and Marius Romme's work with 'Hearing Voices'.