ABSTRACT
The issues of parenting and child rearing for the seriously mentally ill population have surfaced recently as a result of social policy changes over the past few decades, shifting direction from that of segregation and isolation of the mentally ill to that of integration and inclusion. This chapter is a review of the literature regarding the efficacy of group interventions with parents who have a serious mental illness. A review of the population will provide a context of prevalence, characteristics and features, and the treatment difficulties of parents with a serious mental illness. Parents with serious mental illness are in compounded risk situations involving themselves and their children. Parenting is a high-stakes task for parents with a serious mental illness. The illness inhibits natural abilities to cope with parenting duties and it also magnifies the consequences of inadequate parenting.
