RESOURCES AND SUPPORTS FOR MOTHERS WITH SEVERE MENTAL-ILLNESS

Over the past 20 years, community mental health services have enabled individuals with severe mental illness (SMI) to spend more time in the community and to have greater opportunities to face normal developmen tal life tasks. Currently, women with SMI appear to be as likely to ha ve children as women in the general population. Although these mothers tend to be single parents, often live in inadequate housing, have sma ll social networks, and lack social and emotional supports, they have received little treatment attention. This article presents a systemati c review of literature published in the past decade that describes int erventions for mothers with SMI. These interventions are critiqued, an d implications for future interventions are drawn using a psychiatric rehabilitation framework.