ABSTRACT
The Soteria treatment model was initiated by the American psychiatrist Loren Mosher during the early 1970s. Between 1968 and 1980, as director of the Schizophrenia Branch of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) he developed two federally funded research demonstration projects: `Soteria' (1971±1983) and `Emanon' (1974±1980). The aim was to investigate the effects of a supportive milieu therapy (`being with') for individuals diagnosed with `schizophrenia', who were experiencing acute psychotic episodes for the ®rst or second time in their lives. In these programmes neuroleptics were either completely avoided, or given in low dosages only.
