A review of the effectiveness of interventions aimed at understanding the content and meaning of the experience of voice hearing

Objectives: This paper is a review of the effectiveness of interventions aimed at understanding the content and meaning of the experience of voice hearing, also known as auditory verbal hallucinations, in the context of mental health nursing practice.

Background: The current literature around voice hearing reveals weaknesses in the traditional
psychiatric understanding of voice hearing as a symptom of underlying biological illness.

Methods: A narrative review of the literature is synthesised from the findings acquired through search of electronic databases, combined with additional manual searching.

Findings: Five papers meeting the inclusion criteria were selected. Following critical analysis, six themes emerged consisting of three insights (experience of voice hearing, meaning, personal significance) leading to three therapeutic outcomes (relationship
with the voices, emotional impact, and functioning).

Conclusions: Exploring the content and meaning of the voices may be a valuable intervention voice hearers could choose, however there are
potential adverse effects that need careful consideration and management. The implications for incorporating the approach into evidence-based mental health nursing practice are discussed