Finland Open Dialogue

A Finnish alternative to the traditional mental health system for people diagnosed with "psychoses" such as "schizophrenia" is "Open Dialogue." This approach aims to support the individual's network of family and friends, as well as respect the decision-making of the individual.

Finnish Open Dialogue Alternative to Traditional Psychiatry by David W. Oaks — last modified 2007-12-19 18:40

From "Spiritual Recoveries": Jaakko Seikkula, Ph.D. is a professor at the Institute of Social Medicine at the University of Tromso in Norway and senior assistant at the Department of Psychology in the University of Jyvskyl in Finland. Between 1981-1998, he worked as a clinical psychologist at the Keropudas hospital in Finland where he and colleagues developed a highly successful approach for working with psychosis known as Open Dialogue Treatment (OPT). The approach de-emphasizes the use of drugs and focuses instead on developing a social network of family and helpers and involving the patient in all treatment decisions. Ongoing research shows that over 80% of those treated with the approach return to work and over 75% show no residual signs of psychosis. Official government statistics comparing 22 health districts in Finland found that Dr. Seikulla's district was the only one not to have any new chronic hospital patients in a two year period and led the National Research and Development Center for Welfare and Health to award a prize for "over ten years ongoing development of psychiatric care." You may download an RTF article on Open Dialogue here.