Can't You Hear Them?

An engaging enquiry into the psychology and neuroscience of voice hearing that explores hallucinated voices in all their fascinating forms. -- Vaughan Bell, University College London, UK

A remarkable book about voice hearing, which provides an accessible account of the science, but does not lose track of the meaning of the experience. It is compassionate, controversial and compelling! -- Chris Cook, Professor of Spirituality, Theology & Health at Durham University, UK

With rigorous science, penetrating analyses, colourful and enjoyable prose, and an astonishing breadth of knowledge - Simon McCarthy-Jones has delivered a book that will undeniably be appreciated by many. -- Frank Larøi, University of Bergen, Norway and University of Liège, Belgium

On finishing this book my initial instinct was to re-read it in order to appreciate its insights for a second time. Can't You Hear Them? is not only a work of impressive scholarship but a compelling, beautifully-written story of human experience and endeavour. -- Dr Eleanor Longden, Psychosis Research Unit, Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, UK

A brilliant and thoughtful travel into the complex experience of hearing voices. Superbly written, with intelligence, but also a delightful sense of humour, this book will become an indispensable addition to the bookshelves of clinicians, scientists and people who hear voices. -- Renaud Jardri, MD, PhD, Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Lille, France

Clinicians should recommend this volume to their patients, scientists should recommend it to their students, and voice hearers should recommend it to others in the voice hearing community. I cannot think of a better accolade than to say few would fail to benefit from reading this volume, irrespective of whether the audience is seeking answers to the experiences one is having or seeking guidance on the underlying mechanisms of voice hearing per se. -- PsycCRITIQUES, American Psychological Association

This is a little gem of a book, and a must-have for anyone working with, living with, or curious about voices. -- Vanessa Beavan, Psychosis

A fascinating synthesis of traditionally competing theories to help understand and explain the phenomenon of hearing voices

The experience of 'hearing voices' has been attributed to the divine and the demonic, to a broken brain and faulty genes, and to an ominous sign of mental illness. Yet there is an alternative account - generated by people who hear voices themselves. This book considers neuroscience, genetics, religion, history, politics, responses to trauma, and not least the first-hand experiences of many voice hearers. Challenging established and seemingly contradictory interpretations of this phenomenon, the author argues that when we focus on evidence rather than ideology, we must allow for multiple causes and meanings of this experience.

Simon McCarthy-Jones currently works as an associate professor in Clinical Psychology and Neuropsychology at Trinity College, Dublin and has over a decade of research experience regarding the topic of hearing voices.