The editors claim that a watershed in the development of services for people with severe mental illness has been reached. There are a number of pressures that are converging at the present time causing a realignment of mental health policy and practice towards this client group. The gradual closure of mental hospitals and the pressure on the community to look after its own, puts a burden on families and carers of the severely mentally ill; but also on services to respond to this burden and to find a means of co-ordinating the fragmentation of services that has resulted. There has been a change too in models of understanding the psychoses, particularly schizophrenia. The genuine interaction of biological vulnerability and psychological, psychosocial and cultural influences is increasingly understood; these models have driven a number of innovations in treatment and management which are of proven of promising efficacy. There is also the growing consumer voice of both carer and sufferer which is beginning to influence the nature, style and delivery of care. Mental health professionals are becoming increasingly sensitive to these pressures and we are aware of a growing demand for practical skills and new models of service provision for work with this disadvantaged and often difficult client group. This book is a practical text for mental health professionals wishing to develop and enhance their skills in these new treatment and intervention approaches which include: family interventions and network support; early warning systems to anticipate and control relapse; strategies to control distressing symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions; methods of managing challenging behaviour, motivational and emotional deficits; and improving skills for daily living. Practitioners from the UK and USA contribute chapters which aim to combine scholarly analysis with a practical, clinical approach to their subject. A considerable part of the book is devoted to assessment and conceptualization and to models of service delivery.