The benefits of hearing voices groups: more findings from a US national study

Review of From breakdown to breakthrough: Psychoanalytic treatment of psychosis.

“…But some explicitly reject the idea of a “redemptive narrative,” and thus would not share the authors’ goal. People who understand their anomalous experiences—even if deeply painful or frightening—as core to their sense of self do not necessarily wish to be “redeemed.” Some of those who hear voices, for example, or experience other extreme states that they consider part of who they are, may find it more helpful to meet with others like them in a peer support group, rather than seeking treatment from a clinician (Hornstein et al, 2024). This is not because such people lack courage or cannot take the rigors of psychoanalytic work, but because they do not want their experience to be interpreted ; what they want is to create a coherent account that makes meaningful what has been distressing or bewildering.…”