Hearing voices: Making sense of working with young people who have auditory experiences without an external stimulus

This thesis investigated how supporting children and young people (CYP) who experience voice hearing is talked about by educational professionals. Using Foucauldian discourse analysis, I explored discussions with three members of staff in different roles and educational settings, examined the discourses used and possible implications for the practice of Educational Psychologists through two research questions: “How do educational professionals talk about supporting children and young people who they have come to know are experiencing voice hearing?” and “What might these discourses mean for the practice of Educational Psychologists?” Discourses arose within four areas answering the two research questions posed and talked in terms of power, meaning, responses and resources: Power was made up of three constructs. These were ‘more than’ in terms of positioning them as more in need, medical model/deficit/diagnosis, and societal control. Meaning was comprised of the constructs; ontology and epistemology. Ontology came from discussions about the existence/ reality of VH, and epistemology, how staff talked about what can be known about VH and where it came from. When discussing responses, education staff described unpredictability around CYP who experienced VH, as well as finding it difficult to describe them. They also described discomfort, and relativity of their responses, or providing different responses when a different meaning is made. Participants talked about facilitators and barriers to their practice, which formed the discourse of resources. In particular this highlighted ideas around: training, past experience, support from within the school system, external support, and humanistic approaches. From these discussions, conclusions were drawn as to the implications for EPs who support these schools. Future implications for EP practice include providing training, support and supervision.