Please welcome HVN at NAMI SW to the Pacific Northwest Hearing Voices Community! Below is a message from the facilitators.
Back in July, John McDonald and I attended the training for facilitating a Hearing Voices Network Group, or HVN. It was facilitated by John Harold and Reggie Lee, two amazing men who offer an immense amount of value and camaraderie to the training. They went over the philosophy and ran the training as if we were in a full HVN group. Most of the facilitators-in-training are peers who relate to the umbrella term of hearing and seeing things that aren’t in line with consensus reality, having unusual beliefs, or extreme and altered states.
For John and I, it was comfortable, exciting, and liberating to be surrounded by people who understand what it’s like to experience things not experienced by others. Having experienced altered and extreme states and seeing things on occasion, it felt new and fresh to be around people who are open, honest, and unashamed of their experiences. John Harold has a sweet and gentle way of presenting the information, of getting us excited about what it means to be part of the HVN philosophy and community and running a group. His energy and demeanor put me at ease right away.
John and I had a great time meeting people in the community like us; making deep connections that I feel are life-long and bringing this information and energy to our organization with the intention of leading a full group independent of the NAMI support model and instead honoring fully what the HVN philosophy is about.
So far, we’ve had fun building our group and connecting with its members. Our group tends to be small with just a handful of people attending. We would like to see it grow and to be able to put participants at ease, present a comfortable environment where you can share and connect and not be afraid to talk about what these experiences mean to you.
This level of validation, respect, and community are so important. HVN has shown John and I, and many others, that we belong in the world as is and deserve to without the assumption of illness or defect. We are great how we are and that includes all of our differences. We like to celebrate that in our group and are eager to get to know and build our own micro-community honoring the HVN model to the best of our ability.
HVN at NAMI SW WA meets at 2500 Main Street, Suite 120 from 2:30-4:00 pm every Wednesday excluding holidays. For more about NAMI SW WA, visit namiswwa.org. You can contact Chiara or John at 360-695-2823 and via emails at chiara.c@namiswwa.org and john.m@namiswwa.org.