HVN-USA — Free Peer Support for People Who Hear Voices
Hearing Voices Network USA (HVN-USA) is part of the international Hearing Voices Movement — a peer-focused approach for people who hear voices, see visions, or have other unusual perceptions and experiences. HVN-USA hosts a national network of facilitated peer support groups (in-person and online) where voice hearers can share experiences, coping strategies, and explanatory frameworks in a non-medical setting that honors the meaning and complexity of these experiences.
What to Expect
HVN-USA groups meet weekly or biweekly, in person across the U.S. and increasingly online for people in time zones across the country. Groups are facilitated by trained volunteers — many of whom are voice hearers themselves — and follow a peer-driven format. Members share their experiences (hearing voices, seeing visions, feeling presences, holding unusual beliefs) without being required to frame them in clinical-pathological language. Members compare coping strategies, share what’s worked, and develop their own understanding of what their experiences mean. The Hearing Voices Movement’s principle is that voice-hearing experiences can be meaningful and that recovery looks different for each person.
Who This Group Is For
HVN-USA groups welcome people who hear voices, see visions, feel sensations, or have other unusual perceptions or beliefs — including people who do and don’t identify with psychiatric diagnoses. Members might be in active mental health treatment, have stepped away from treatment, or never have engaged with the mental health system. Some groups are open to family members and supporters; others are for voice hearers only. The model is intentionally inclusive of perspectives that diverge from mainstream psychiatric framing of these experiences.
Why Peer Support Works
For people who hear voices or have similar experiences, finding peers who don’t pathologize the experience — and who can talk openly about what voices say, how they relate to them, and what helps — can be deeply healing. Mainstream mental health settings often frame voice-hearing primarily through a symptom-management lens; HVN groups create space for a wider conversation. Many members describe their HVN group as the only place they can talk honestly about experiences they otherwise feel pressured to suppress or explain away.
How to Join
HVN-USA groups are free. Visit hearingvoicesusa.org to find a group near you (in-person and online), learn about the Hearing Voices Movement, access training resources, and contact HVN-USA staff. The site lists current groups by region and includes information for people interested in starting a new group in their community.