Meet The Board

Dirk Corstens- Chair

Since 2009 chair of the Intervoice Board. Dirk has been a social psychiatrist and psychotherapist since 1992. He is educated in cognitive, psychodynamic and systems therapy, Transactional Analysis and Voice Dialogue work.

Since 1992, Dirk has been Collaborator in the Hearing Voices Project of Marius Romme and Sandra Escher of the University Maastricht. Dirk developed the recovery programme, ‘Talking with Voices’, and is currently preparing research on this subject. He delivers courses with Ron Coleman and Eleanor Longden on ‘working and talking with voices

Jacqui is the Chair of the National Hearing Voices Network, England, a user led charity which works to promote acceptance and understanding of the experiences of hearing voices, seeing visions, tactile sensations and other sensory experiences.

She is an international speaker and trainer specialising in hearing voices, ‘psychosis’ and trauma.

Jacqui is a member of the campaign co-ordinating committee for CASL – the Campaign to Abolish the Schizophrenia Label. She is a published writer

Ron Coleman has been active in the field of mental health since 1991, when affecting his own recovery from mental illness, he used his experiences to develop his ideas for recovery centered treatment of others. Since then he has went on to write numerous books and papers on the subject and was influential in the development of the Hearing Voices Network in the UK. He is a founder member of INTERVOICE and has been instrumental in nurturing and supporting the development of our organisation and national networks throughout the world.

Ron and his partner Karen are particularly well known for their work on Recovery and Psychosis and also specialise in ‘Self harm, Personality disorder, Risk training, Person Centred Planning’ and mental well being. Ron has set up Working to Recovery Ltd, a training and consultancy organisation.

Sandra Escher

Dr Sandra Escher has been involved in the Hearing Voices Movement from the very beginning. She arranged for the appearance of Patsy Hage and Marius Romme on the Dutch TV talk show (the first time a serious effort was made to reach out to voice hearers not in contact with psychiatry and to find out about their experiences).

She has organised the hearing voices congresses in Holland, which are held every two years, as well as the four congresses she organised for INTERVOICE in Maastricht. She also has taken responsibility for the P.R. for the voice hearing research studies.

In 1996 she started her own research with children hearing voices. Her new book on children who hear voices was published in 2010

Liz Ellis

Liz first became involved with INTERVOICE in the mid 1990’s, when she worked with Marius Romme, Sandra Escher and Ron Coleman. She has a long term commitment to the values of INTERVOICE which are put into practice within her own organization.

Liz’s professional background is in financial and general management. She has worked in the private, public and charitable sectors. She has held senior executive posts in the NHS and the not-for profit sector, with a focus on providing community and supported employment services for people with mental health problems and people with learning disabilities.

Her expertise includes contract negotiations, funding, commissioning and setting up management support systems (especially for community based services for people transferring from long stay hospitals and other voluntary or private organisations).

In 2001 she set up her own company which provides residential care and supported living for elderly people and adults with mental health problems.

Jørn Ditlev Eriksen

Jørn’s entire working career has been centred on psychiatry in areas such as social psychiatry, district psychiatry, psychotherapy, alcoholism and adolescent psychiatry.

He’s originally trained as a nurse. Afterwards, he took a diploma in management and a professional diploma in Human Resource Development.

Currently, he is a director of the social psychiatric services in Lyngby – taarbæk municipality. Which include housing, support at home, acute service, self-help groups, supported work, social firms, and educations programs est. The services in Lyngby – taarbæk municipality is in the Danish context a pioneering bid for recovery-oriented work (www.slotsvaenget-ltk.dk).

Jørn is the initiator of the creation of the Danish Voice Hearers Network, and has been on the board since its inception.

He was also in the initiative group who founded the Danish Association for Psychosocial Rehabilitation.

Jørn was the first Dane to be invited to join the International Network International Mental Health Collaborating Network (Whole Life – Whole System) and he is now a member of the international advisory board. This network consists of people and organizations who have specific skills in relation to work on recovery processes.

Jørn has been President and Vice President of the Academic Society of Psychiatric Nurses for 8 years. For 7 years he was a columnist in the magazine nurse, and has regularly written articles for magazines and newspapers.

Jørn has for many years been a sought after speaker and an active community debater home and abroad in relation to the circumstances of mental health issues. In addition he works as a consultant for institutions wishing to work diligently with recovery processes.