Soteria Berne: an innovative milieu therapeutic approach to acute schizophrenia based on the concept of affect-logic

Abstract

The name "Soteria" stands for an alternative low-drug milieu-therapeutic approach to acute schizophrenia that was first implemented by Mosher and Menn in San Francisco, and since 1984 further developed by Ciompi and co-workers in Berne, on the basis of their concept of affect-logic, that emphasizes the often neglected influence of emotional factors in schizophrenia. In both settings, equal and even partly better therapeutic results, compared with traditional methods, were obtained with much lower doses of antipsychotics and comparable daily costs. Basic concepts, practical proceedings and empirical findings of Soteria Berne are reported, and their theoretical and practical implications for mainstream psychiatry are discussed. They support the hypothesis of a crucial pathogenetic and therapeutic-preventive role played by emotional factors not only in the so-called affective psychoses, but also in schizophrenia.