The World Hearing Voices Congress 2024 will be held in the Danish capital Copenhagen on 26 and 27 September. The theme of the congress is: Reclaiming Our Lives.

This annual event brings together voice-hearers, loved ones and other allies in a two-day event that explores and celebrates the diversity of voice-hearing, vision-seeing and related human experiences. It is a space where people from across the world come to connect with, and learn from, one another.
The strength of the World Hearing Voices Congress comes from the diversity of people who contribute to it.

Most people who hear voices live full lives, where the voices are experienced as a natural part of their existence. Natural doesn’t always mean that this is an easy experience, however. Whilst voices can be inspiring and connective, they can also have a detrimental impact on the person and their lives.

Some people who hear voices experience being categorised as mentally ill, a process that can bring its own negative consequences - over and above any difficulties linked to the voices themselves.

We have chosen the title of the congress - Reclaiming Our Lives - because we want to put the right to define, describe and navigate the experience back in the hands of people who hear voices.
By framing voice-hearing as a natural human experience, we resist the pathologisation that is becoming commonplace. Rather than seeing distressing voice-hearing experiences as fundamentally different to more pleasant ones, we view all experiences as meaningful.

When people are distressed or troubled by the voices they hear, or visions they see, it can be a message pointing to issues that the person is struggling with. Within the international Hearing Voices Movement many people have found that taking an exploratory, curious and respectful approach to the voices has been a helpful path.
At this Congress there will be many people who have experienced this process. Through the many different contributions to the Congress we will explore hearing voices as a natural human phenomenon that should not be pathologised or stigmatised.

The development of the Congress is a dynamic and collaborative process. New ideas arise as people from across the world offer to contribute to the Congress in different ways. We will continuously adapt the program and the social events here on the website. You can also follow the progress of the congress on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/world.hearing.voices.congress.in.copenhagen/

Pernille Frandsen is a 53-year-old self-taught artist and author of the book “An Anchor of Flamingo – What we forget, we keep in the heart”. Pernille finds healing in the creative universe; she has turned her lived experiences with sexual abuse and failed psychiatric treatment into something positive. Strong colors and somber expressions are always a recurring element in Pernille's artwork. What manifests on paper reflects what fills her emotional life and, at the same time, serves as a quiet rebellion – one she hopes will spark curiosity and interest in how we understand people who experience life differently than others. Meet Pernille and her works at the congress.

Self-taught artist, 30 years old. Gitte finds incredible peace in creativity, and she draws, paints, and makes ceramics. Her works may appear dark on the surface, but like voices and visions, they can be interpreted as more uplifting than initially assumed.

Gitte's journey with her voices, psychiatry, and the system is the recurring theme in her works, which will be showcased at the congress.

Meet Gitte and her art at the congress.

For all those interested in the talking with voices approach, Dirk Corstens and Trevor Eyles will be in conversation with voice-hearers who will discuss their personal experiences.

For many people, the idea of talking with voices can be an alien and often frightening prospect.
However, as we will hear, for some it may provide the breakthrough in changing the relationship with the voices, and the first step towards reclaiming their lives.

Quotes:
‘if I had not been introduced to the idea of communicating with my voices, I would still be distressed and afraid of them’

‘Talking with voices has been the most important aspect of my collaboration with them’

‘I had ignored them for far too long and needed a facilitator to help me listen to what the voices were trying to tell me’

‘Talking with the voices changed the relationship from ‘enemies’
to friends’

‘Talking with my voices helped me to understand them in a different way’

‘During the first session, the voices were afraid and I realised that they didn’t actually have the power that I allowed them to have’

‘Talking with voices enabled me to unlock the meaning behind the messages they were trying to share’

‘For me, talking with voices is a crucial and extremely useful tool in understanding the voices in a far more nuanced way’

In this workshop, Nina Falkenlöve Lauridsen will take you through her process of learning to handle her voices and visions on her own.
When Nina was 24, it dawned on her that the psychiatric system were unable to help her, and slowly she began to look for another way.
Over the next few years, Nina stopped taking medication, established a relationship with the voices that she had previously feared, and learned to interpret both voices and visions, and understand their role in relation to her own story.
Nina will take you through the changes that came when she accepted her voices and visions as a part of her, the working methods she used, as well as how the most aggressive of her voices ended up being a guide and support.