Hearing Voices Training Delivered in Bangladesh

On May 14, 2025, for the very first time in Bangladesh, NEC’s Hearing Voices workshop was delivered. It occurred in the capital city of Dhaka at an institution called the Neuroscience & Psychiatry Hub, a project of the Sajida Foundation. Approximately 20 participants took part, from reception staff to psychologists, to administrators, to psychiatrists, including a child psychiatrist, to psychiatric nurses. The workshop was enthusiastically received. Below are some photos of the training.

Updated Hearing Voices Curriculum Now Available!

Originally developed by Dr. Pat Deegan, the NEC Hearing Voices Curriculum now includes updates developed by Dr. Dan Fisher, Oryx Cohen, and Digital Eyes Film.  In addition to the original simulation exercises, the updates include a new DVD featuring one of the co-founders of the Hearing Voices Network, Dr. Marius Romme, as well as testimony from voice hearers themselves.  The updated curriculum includes new discussion questions that will help participants better understand how they can support voice hearers after the training.

For more information about the curriculum click here.

Learn more about the updated Hearing Voices Curriculum in the video below.

Emotional CPR Book Just Released

Introduction to Emotional CPR

Webinar Recordings Now Available: Understanding and Exploring Youth Peer Support Frameworks

Presenters: Te Jay McGrath, Huck Talwar, Shayn McDonald, and Arc Telos “Tay” Saint Amour

Webinar Description:Over the course of two sessions, participants will join the team from Youth MOVE National for a virtual, immersive, and interactive experience to take their youth peer support understanding, advocacy skills, and network connections to the next level.

Session 1 – October 1st, 2025
Session One will focus on the fundamentals of youth peer support, its history and importance, key YPS considerations including ethics and boundaries, the technique of strategic sharing, and co-reflection foundations. Participants will engage in mutual learning, networking, and open, honest dialogue.

Session 2 – October 8th, 2025
Session Two will segue into going beyond the fundamentals and diving deeper into specific areas of interest, including trauma-informed practice, effective communication, systems thinking, resource mapping, and effective advocacy and engagement strategies. Participants will tailor their learning and build an action plan unique to them, to move youth peer support forward within their roles, agencies, and communities–in tangible ways.

Webinar Recording Now Available: Soteria Houses: Safe, Humane, Life-Enhancing Treatment for Psychosis

Presenters: Al Galves, Susan Musante, Gene Larkin, and three members of the Soteria Vermont staff

Webinar Description: This webinar will provide participants with a comprehensive, in-depth understanding of the Soteria approach to treating psychosis, including a description of a typical house, how the treatment works, staffing, operations and financing. The history of Soteria houses will be covered along with information on Soteria houses that are operating in the world today. There will be plenty of stories and anecdotes designed to give participants a rich picture of what goes on in Soteria houses, how crises are addressed, the kinds of issues that need to be negotiated, and the reality beneath the words. We’ll also be talking about how to create a Soteria house in your community in hopes that this is part of a movement to greatly increase the number of Soteria houses in the United States.

Panelists include the Directors of Soteria Alaska and Soteria Vermont, a man who worked in the original Soteria house in San Jose, California, current staff at Soteria Vermont, a former resident at Soteria Vermont, and a man who is part of a group that is creating the second Soteria house in the United States.

APA Publishes Paper Supporting Peer Respites

Neurodiversity Gifts is Now Available!

Neurodiversity Gifts is an impactful, multi-dimensional encounter workshop brought to you by Josh Roberts and the National Empowerment Center. It is designed to give people living with mental health conditions a fresh, colorful perspective of their potential, and an expanded view of reality at large.

By combining insights from Western perspectives (science, psychology, and philosophy) with insights from Non-Western perspectives (traditional cultures, spirituality, and mysteries), the goal is to reframe your identity away from self-stigma, towards post-traumatic growth, and the potential gifts of your neurodiverse mind.

The 3 hour individual training is now available for $120. Click here to purchase the individual training!

Artists for Change Exhibit

Gayle Bluebird has completed an art exhibit featuring the work of artists with lived experience who are part of the peer movement. It is now available for anyone who wishes to view it. Click here for the exhibit.

Emotional CPR Presentation and Podcast Interview with eCPR Coordinator Kimberly Ewing

NEC’s Emotional CPR Director of Training and Engagement Kimberly Ewing presented on eCPR for the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD) in December and was interviewed for the Peer Voices podcast in August. Click below for the recordings.

A Good Intro to Emotional CPR

Testimonial

I AM A “FIXER” by Carmaleta Aufderheide

Last week, I took an online eCPR course.  The “e” stands for emotional.  I wanted to do this for a
few reasons but mainly to continue to inform how I teach and talk to others. I had no idea what I was in for.

As I sat at my computer, sipping coffee, the virtual classroom opened with an upbeat music
video playing.  I found myself sipping and swaying in tune with the music.  People began
entering the meeting room and settled in.  I recognized the intention of setting the
mood…mission accomplished!

The phrase “trauma-informed” is something I never had a good grasp of nor could explain well.
This class helped break new ground in my engagement with everyday happenings from this
perspective.

We all have shit we are dealing with.  It’s not a competition about who has it worse.  I’ve worked hard to communicate openly without putting up walls, which can be easier said than done.  This class reconnected me to the importance of how I show up for people.

I’ll admit it – I am a FIXER, at heart. Sometimes I feel like I need a 12-step recovery program for
“fixing”.   I fight the urge to do this and teach on this…but it’s something I am always working on. As the first day of class came to a close, I was emotionally spent.  I had given it my all and
witnessed other do the same.  Wow…how often does that happen?

Day 2 of class did not disappoint.  I have always felt it was a privilege to hold space for people
when they feel comfortable enough to share something hard with me.  What surprised me
though was how this class helped me ask, how do I show up for myself?  That’s something I have to work on.  By the end of two days, my gratitude for the instructors and fellow participants continues to fill my cup.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go do something for me…so I can be there for you.

ReAwaken Manifesto

The ReAwaken Manifesto was born out of a week-long gathering of international leaders in mental health, addiction, and trauma at the inaugural ReAwaken conference, ReAwaken Australia, which took place 8-12 April 2019 in Adelaide, South Australia.  The manifesto reflects the collective work and vision of these leaders. ReAwaken recognizes that our society is asleep in many ways, more isolated than ever from each other and the environment, which has led to ineffective and often harmful polices and practices in the fields of mental health, trauma and addiction.  We call for a great reawakening of the human spirit, a reclaiming of our narratives, and a reconnection with our fellow travelers and the earth.  We know this is possible because we have achieved this in one short week, having created a beautiful, safe, inclusive, and loving community in one small corner of the world.