Voice-dialoguing mainly aims to help a person explore and reflect on their relationship to their voices. It does not aim to change the voices themselves but might help people reframe or understand what the voices are saying.  Any changes can take time.

Voice dialoguing is not something typically offered on the NHS, although some local services might include practitioners with experience of using the method. A growing number of therapists, of many different schools of thought, can integrate talking with voices into their practice, but this is usually something that is only available privately and with the associated financial implications.

Mind in Camden offer ‘Hearing Voices Journey Work’ – a programme of work developed by Rachel Waddingham which involves developing a personal understanding of what your voices might be about and can include talking with voices. All individual work of this kind is facilitated by a person experienced in working with voices and provided within a person-centred framework.

But you don’t have to do voice dialoguing to talk to your voices. Many people learn to talk to their voices themselves and can find it beneficial.

Talking to voices (either as a person or a practitioner) can feel like an unusual thing to do. For some people it might make distressing voices feel a bit easier to manage or understand, while for others it might do the opposite.

I am trying to learn to do this (talking with voices) but it is very new to me.  I think it’s important for me to try and interact with the ‘voices’ as if I simply distract from them, it tends to make them ‘shout louder’.  I try to tell the ‘voices’ that I’m listening, that I want to hear what they’re saying and try to understand that they’re there for a reason and to be compassionate about that reason.  It’s a work in progress – I find sometimes the ‘voices’ seem not to want to interact or I’m not able to be compassionate with them. 

Amy*