Residential crisis houses for spiritual emergency (Diabasis)

Domain VII · Transpersonal, psychedelic & altered states · John Weir Perry · 1970 · San Francisco

What it is

This is a historical programme, not a current, manualised therapy. Diabasis (Greek for roughly "crossing through") was an unlocked, home-like residence for young adults in an early, acute psychotic episode. It used no antipsychotics as routine, no electroshock and no locked doors. Perry, a Jungian…

Format

• Perry published no staged session protocol. The phases below are put together from his case reports and summaries.
• Course: speech may at first be fragmented, or the person mute. With attentive presence over a few sessions, the fragments come together into a story that moves forward.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Does it use a device, heat, cold, water or a physical procedure? Has a medical professional checked that it is safe for you?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• relying on the time limit while risk rises. Risk overrides the timeline.
• any sign that outpatient containment is not enough. If so, step up care.
• Growing affect and relatedness in the room, which Perry read as awakening Eros.
• sleep loss, exhaustion, dehydration and escalating agitation. These are medical red flags.
• Burnout. Staff becoming swept up in, or frightened by, the material. Splitting within the team.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.