The client group referred to as the long-term mentally ill, the persistently severely mentally distressed, the chronically psychotic ill, or people with long-term mental health problems have generally received a poor deal from the traditional psychiatric services. Help has largely rested on custodial and medical treatments. The main focus of rehabilitative ap- proaches has often been dictated by predetermined expecta- tions which are usually set quite low. The assumption is often made that people in this client group are 'treatment resistant' and unlikely to make good use of opportunities to...