Telling stories and hearing voices: narrative work with voice hearers in acute care

Abstract

Accessible summary • Nurses do not always talk to voice hearers in detail about their experiences. • Telling the story of an individual's voices through developing a narrative is a valid therapeutic process that mental health nurses can help with. • The approach of Romme and Escher provides a service user-based understanding of voices and recovery that mental health nurses can use in their practise. • A project was developed on an acute inpatient ward where nurses helped voice hearers develop a narrative account of their voices. Mental health nurses do not always feel at ease talking in detail with voice hearers about their experiences. Using the approach of Romme and Escher, a project was developed to support staff on an acute inpatient ward to explore voice hearing with patients. Romme and Escher suggest that a person's own understanding of their voices and their meaning is the key to recovery. Working together, the nurse helps voice hearers construct a narrative that tells the story of their voices. Examples from the narratives show how they can help increase understanding of a person's voices, and how the mental health nurse in acute care can realistically offer therapeutic interventions that may help a person towards recovery.