Alternative treatment of psychosis: A qualitative study of Jungian medication-free treatment at Diabasis

Diabasis, a medication-free, Jungian residential treatment center for acutely psychotic young adult clients, operated in the San Francisco mental health system in the 1970s. Using semi-structured interviews with participants in the program, review of archives, and examination of unpublished manuscripts, this study explicated the treatment approach and history of Diabasis. The literature review described the “medical model” that dominates the field and Perry's (1953, 1999) Jungian-oriented model, used at Diabasis, as well as several competing and complementary alternative perspectives on theory, diagnosis, and treatment. My research design, which intentionally avoided objectifying the process of psychosis or the individuals who went through this process at Diabasis, used Polkinghorne's (1989) multi-methodological “triangulation” approach for data gathering and phenomenological methods for data analysis. The results showed that the life and treatment philosophy of Diabasis founder John Perry, as well as the social milieu of the 1960s and 1970s, contributed necessary conditions for the existence of Diabasis. Its treatment approach hinged upon a particular “way” of being with psychotic residents—a unique Jungian style, evolved by Perry, that used a Taoist “active receptivity” to engage the archetypes of the collective unconscious as they expressed their powerful drama of affect and image on the stage of the Self. Participants' beliefs regarding the nature of psychosis tended to converge around three themes: (a) psychosis is not a unitary phenomenon; (b) for at least some people, it is both a purposive developmental process and an experience with strong transpersonal and archetypal elements; and (c) given the right kind of support, such people can come through the experience “healed.” Participants were strongly critical of the medical model, which Diabasis sought to supplant, but also expressed retrospective criticisms of Diabasis itself. All felt that Diabasis continues to have a profound influence on their lives. The discussion explored some of the clinical, social, and theoretical implications of my study, as well as practical applications—including its relevance to the current growth of the consumer movement—and directions for further research. I hope my work will contribute to clinical understanding of psychosis and to developing alternatives to biopsychiatric treatment.