ABSTRACT
The indications from the initial ward staff training as well as the group for voice-hearers suggested that more staff training was necessary. Together with an occupational therapist (OT) a six-week course was developed. It was delivered across the board to clinicians and was presented to several groups of clinicians over several months. Working with people who hear voices pushes a clinician into a very uncomfortable space. This posture has kept clinicians at a distance from working at any depth with people who hear voices. The difficulty is, however, that eventually clinicians have to get to grips at the pit face, but they do not know how or where to start. At the core of applying the techniques the clinician has to identify that working with troublesome voices is largely about dealing with a person's interpretation of an experience and their response to that interpretation. The opposite of avoidance, that is, focusing, is well-known by clinicians.
