ABSTRACT
Many mental health settings have begun to develop psychiatric rehabilitation programs to enhance or replace existing, more traditional programs (e.g., Allen & Velasco, 1980; Bachrach, 1982; Beard, Propst, & Malamud, 1982). Some are adopting rehabilitation services as a complement to existing services (Anthony, Buell, Sharratt, & Althoff, 1972), while others are moving from no services for persons with severe psychiatric disabilities to a psychiatric rehabilitation approach (Lamb, 1982; Anthony & Liberman, 1986). As psychiatric rehabilitation becomes more widely used as a concept, it becomes necessary to clarify what psychiatric rehabilitation is, and how it differs from other approaches to providing effective services to persons with psychiatric disabilities. This chapter will first clarify the psychiatric rehabilitation approach. Second, it will focus on the unique contributions of the rehabilitation diagnosis and planning process to services for persons with severe psychiatric disability.
