Understanding voice hearing through the lens of dissociation

Dissociation develops as a way to cope with trauma. It is often rooted in adverse childhood experiences including abuse, neglect, and loss; and involves a lack of connection or disconnection between experiences or parts of the self, leading to gaps or breaks in conscious awareness. One main way dissociation between different parts of the self can manifest is through inner, hallucinatory voices. For this reason, based on a set of trauma-informed principles, participants look beyond the medical model to explore the concept of voice hearing as a normal response to traumatic events.  Through presentation and discussion, participants explore the fundamentals of dissociation, psychologically and neurobiologically; consider different types of dissociation; and create connections between trauma and voice hearing considered as a dissociative phenomenon.