ABSTRACT
This chapter is concerned with voices, that is, hallucinations which are experienced as someone talking. It argues that viewing voices from a cognitive perspective increases understanding of the maintenance of voices and reveals a new treatment approach of considerable promise. Auditory hallucinations are traditionally associated with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. The explanatory power of the cognitive model was weakest in relation to compliance. The cognitive approach within clinical psychology is based on two premises. The major premise states that extreme feelings and behaviour are consequences of particular beliefs rather than events. The minor premise states that if these beliefs can be weakened using cognitive therapy, then the associated distress and behaviour will diminish. The therapist then engineers situations to increase and then decrease the probability of hearing voices. An initial thorough cognitive assessment should identify the cues that provoke voices, and one technique with a high likelihood of eliminating voices for its duration is concurrent verbalisation.
