An experimental two-year treatment project designed to help the acute schizophrenic emerge from psychosis a stronger, better integrated person is underway at Soteria House, a comfortable 16-room house in the San Francisco Bay area. The project will compare the effects of treatment in this special facility with those of "usual" treatment in a community mental health center. At Soteria House, psychosis is viewed as a crisis in development--the organism's attempt to achieve homeostasis in the face of overwhelming stress. Because the psychotic experience is thought to have great potential for natural healing and growth, no attempt is made to abort, rechannel or quell it before it has run its natural course. In keeping with this philosophy, a staff of nonprofessional therapists have been selected for their ability to tune into the patient's crises and have been specially trained to provide reassurance, help in problem solving, support and protection. The treatment approach requires of the staff a tolerance for regression as a sometimes necessary precondition to further psychological growth, as well as prolonged, intensive and intimate contact with patients. (Author/BW)