A VISION FOR A TWENTY-FOUR-HOUR CARE CENTER for people with SPIRITUAL EMERGENCIES / TRANSFORMATIONAL CRISES.

Over the years, as we traveled and spoke about crises of transformation, the most frequently heard question during lectures was: Are there any places that allow clients to go through the experiences without traditional psychiatric interventions under the supervision of someone who understands the process?

Although some facilities with such intentions have been initiated in the past, such as John Perry’s Diabasis house in San Franscisco, they have ultimately closed due to financial problems. This difficulty reflects a lack of cultural understanding of the importance of the transformational journey. Although care at Diabasis costs a fraction of traditional psychiatric hospitalisation, no insurance company would pay claims on care given there because such alternative treatment was not recognised by professionals as acceptable and legitimate.

During the time that has passed since then, a great deal has changed. The global crisis, the escalating cost of psychiatric treatment, the resurgence of interest in spirituality, and the simultanious proliferation of transformational crises has brought us to the point where such sanctuaries may be valuable. With consumers increasingly demanding a new understanding of care of individuals experiencing spiritual emergencies, new possibilities for treatment centers are bound to emerge.

We believe that spiritual-emergency centers could be organised in such a way that they would be accepted by the medical establishment and insurance companies as effective alternatives to traditional psychiatric treatment. They could easily develop in the way that birthing centers and hospices did in response to public pressure for a more humane and natural treatment of birth and death. Birth, death, and spiritual transformation are all such innate and prominent aspects of our lives that it seems essential to create special supportive environments for each.

Following our vision of a twenty-four-hour sanctuary. Since this is a relatively new field, there are aspects of such a model that need to be tested, added to, and changed. Our destriction is quite general. Opperational details would have to be developed according to specific situations.

The philosophy. The concept of a residential spiritual-emergency facility based on the understanding that the transformational crisis is to be trusted rather than suppressed and controlled. The clients are not identified as patients and the staff members are not described as experts. Rather, each person is simply seen as a participant at a certain stage in an evolutionary journey. Some have more knowledge, experience, skills than others, but may change with time. Staff members are committed to creating a context where the process can unfold naturally.

The setting. Ideally, the sanctuary is located in a natural setting, since people in spiritual emergencies are often very sensitive and attuned to the world around them. If this is not possible, clients and staff need to have some access to grass, trees, beaches, mountains, sunshine, gardens, and other aspects of nature. The location is removed enough from neighbouring buildings that the emotional expression so frequently part of a crisis will not be disturbing to others.

The building or buildings are homelike and comfortable, with carpeted common areas for activities and group meetings, bedrooms, and a kitchen. One or two rooms with a little or no forniture and cushioned walls and floor are to be used b those who need a safe place during critical stages in their process. Bathubs or hot tubs are available for those who find comfort and healing in water.

The entire environment is aesthetically pleasing and noninstitutional. The building is painted with the same consideration that we use in painting our homes, and there are always plenty of plants and fresh flowers on the tables. Nourishing, healthy meals are cooked and presented with careful attention to their quality and appearance. And bowls of fresh fruit are always available.

Outside is a beautifully maintained flower and vegetable garden where clients can spend time digging and planting as a way of balancing their complex inner experience. Ideally, there is a swimming pool where individuals can actively express and drain intrusive energies as they arise during the process. Jogging in a nearby park, as well as other vigorious activities, might accomplish the same thing.

The staff. The staff consists of mental-health professionals, paraprofessionals, and lay people. All members of the staff are personally committed to th general philosophy of encouraging expression rather than suppression. The exact make-up of the staff depends upon the requirements of each situation. However, it is important to have trained facilitators who are willing to support and accompany others through their crises.

A requirement for everyone involved – cooks, administrators, counselors, maintainance people, physicians, and facilitators – is that they have experiential as well as theoretical training. This training may come from their own personal spiritual crises, as experiental method such as Holotropic Breathwork ™  or various spiritual practices that involve states similar to those encountered during a transformational crisis. Their own experiences, along with a good theoretical foundation, enable them to recognise, understand, from the inside out, the process that they see in others. As a result, they are able to interact with clients, in a relaxed, insightful, and supportive way. Ideally, they are each involved in some kind of daily spiritual practice.

A knowledgeable and supportive medical staff is another essential ingredient, since spiritual emergencies often involve physical symptoms that need to be assisted by experts. Problems such as dehydration and lack of nourishment require a supervision of a sympathetic physician. Minor tranquilizers are available infrequently, not as a form of suppressive treatment but in order to assist people in resting after long and intense periods of activity.

The exact roles of staff members depend upon the structure of the center. Because the process of spiritual emergency can be intense, it is helpful as well as healthy for staff members to limit their exposure to clients to a reasonable length of time.

In order to avoid burnout, it may be wise not to have permanent residential staff; instead, staff members might take turns during shifts. ¨People who are training for work with spiritual emergencies could be incorporated as temporary assistants. Additional assistance and learning might come from individuals who work in the chemical-dependency field.

Services. The general program is based on flexibility, caring, and a willingness to adventuresome. Although there are many services available, no client receives a precribed course of treatment. Since the transformation process has its own wisdom, dynamics and timing, it is impossible to predict its trajectory. However, a general understanding of its nature and possibilities provides a broad frame of reference within which to be creative. In certain stages of their process, clients may go through powerful periods in which thye need someone to actively work with them as they face difficult experiences. The appropriate support might range from deep experiental therapy to simple physical contact and the opportunity to talk at length with someone who understands. Sometimes they need to be alone and quiet or involved in creative expression, simple daily activities, or physically demanding exercise.

As they begin to direct their attention back to the world, they become curious about what happened to them, asking for explainations and reassurance. And the the time comes to return home, they want assitance in reentering the ordinary world and interacting with the people in their daily lives. Many of these stages have been discussed in this book; ideas such as these can be expanded during the information of a treatment program.

In addition to round-the-clock availability of trained facilitators, specific servies offered by a spiritual emergency center might include regular counseling, one-to-one interaction with the staff, Kallfs sand and play (See Appendix III), scheduled sessions of experiental therapy, body work, accupuncture, painting, and clay work. Frequently physical exercise and gardening are also available. Clients and staff have the use of an extensive library of art books, volumes of mythology, religion and symbolism, and a large collection of photographs and pictures that might offer some clues as to the content of someone’s experience. A good selection of videotapes on related subjects is also available.

As well as the primary care offered during a client’s stay, sanctuary staff members offer help when he or she returns to the world. They know of several halfway houses that are available for those who need more time in a protective environment. These are staffed with peopl who are prepared to support, assist, and encourage clients as they reenter relationships, jobs, and a socially demanding world. There, residents live with people who are going through the same process and are able to gain support from the experience of others. Succesful halfway houses in the chemical-dependency arena might provide some guidelines.

The spiritual-emergence center also offers an after-care program for clients in the form of ongoing weekly support groups, individual counseling, experiental therapy, and spiritual practice. Clients also have contact with former residents who come into the sanctuary to volunteer as lay counselors, gardeners, or kitchen help. In this way, they have a chance to meet and talk with others who have travelled a similar path and have succesfully integrated many of their experiences in their lives. This kind of contact can provide great hope for someone who may still feel shaky and unsure.

The staff also offers regular programs for family members and friends of people in spiritual emergency. Both while the client is in residence and afterwards, family members and friends receive education and counseling related to the dynamics of the transformational process, which may have entered their lives suddenly. In this way, they are ultimately more able to support and understand their loved one upon his or her return to the world, as well as to care for themselves.

This dream is far from complete. Perhaps a comprehensive vision will come only with the actual planning and initiation of a spiritual-emergency center, a facility that will then serve as a model for others. And before long, we hope, a whole network of such sanctuaries, as well as halfway houses and support groups, will offer the much-needed understanding that so many people are wishing for.

By Dr Stanislav Grof, M.D. from the Book The Stormy Search for the Self, A Guide to Personal Growht through Transformational Crisis.