Compassion for Voices: a tale of courage and hope

About the project Compassion for Voices: A tale of courage and hope is 5-minute animated film that aims to engage a general public audience with the compassionate approach to relating with voices, with potential for use as a therapeutic, educational, and de-stigmatising tool. This project was funded by a grant from King’s College London’s Cultural Institute as part of its 2014 Collaborative Innovation Scheme for Early Career Researchers, along with three further grants from Compassionate Mind Foundation, Balanced Minds, and Medical Research Council (see below). At the Cultural Institute showcase in Feb 2015, this project jointly won best project award. The animation was chosen by the BPS DCP to represent the work of Clinical Psychologists, with a special screening at the House of Commons DCP 50th Birthday event. It has been widely viewed on YouTube, and is frequently used in therapy sessions and training workshops. It has been translated into 10 languages (available in the YouTube subtitle settings), and is used for discussion in Hearing Voices Groups worldwide. The animation was also featured in an award-winning TV documentary on Hearing Voices produced for the French-German channel ARTE. Project leads Charlie Heriot-Maitland is a clinical psychologist, researcher and trainer. For the first 13 years of his career, he provided psychological therapies in the UK National Health Services (NHS), and is now Director of an organisation called Balanced Minds (), which specialises in providing therapy and training in Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT). Charlie continues to provide supervision, training, and consultancy in the NHS, as well as other organisations across multiple sectors, including healthcare, social care, education, and charities. As a researcher, Charlie has spent several years investigating CFT and the application of CFT for people who are experiencing distress in relation to psychosis. He has authored a number of academic papers and book chapters on this subject, as well as a self-help book for voice-hearers (). He regularly runs compassion training workshops for professionals and for the general public, both nationally and internationally. Kate Anderson – an independent animation director. Following an MA in Animation at the Royal College of Art, Kate began her professional career with production company HSI London. Here she worked on a diverse array of animated shorts, music videos and commercials, gaining experience as both animator and director. Since 2010 she has been working independently, reaching out to new creative horizons with collaborators including documentary film makers, artists, and young people using music as a means to change their lives. For details of Kate’s past projects, visit her website: Other contributors Eleanor Longden – provided the voice of narrator for this film which was recorded by Nick Roberts at 5A Studios in London. Eleanor gave a very popular TED talk on her personal experiences with voices, which was one of the inspirations behind this film. Watch on the TED website: Rufus May – Rufus provided the voice of Stuart’s voices for this film, which was recorded by Alex Quinn. Rufus is an inspirational figure in the hearing voices world, probably best known for using his own experiences of being a psychiatric patient to promote alternative recovery approaches for people who hear voices. Visit Cicely Goulder – Cicely provided the musical composition for this film. Cicely is a London based composer/producer, she writes film-scores and is one half of electronic duo KALEIDA. Visit Richard Keyworth – Richard provided the sound design and mix for this film. Richard is a multi-instrumentalist composer and sound designer for all manner of visual media. Project funders Compassionate Mind Foundation - a charity that aims to promote wellbeing through the scientific understanding and application of compassion. The president of the Foundation, Paul Gilbert, is the founder of Compassion Focused Therapy, and the Foundation is the main organisation behind developing and teaching this approach to therapy. Visit Balanced Minds - An organisation providing compassion-focused psychological services and resources. They offer therapy, supervision, and training workshops, with an approach grounded in the science of compassion. Visit Medical Research Council (MRC) - a UK national organisation that aims to improve human health through funding research into all areas of medical and related science, including mental health research. The MRC also funded Dr Charlie Heriot-Maitland’s PhD research at King’s College London on developing Compassion Focused Therapy for psychosis. Visit