EDITORIAL FOR THE SPECIAL ISSUE: New Developments in Community Treatment, Interventions, and Services for Severe Mental Illness: Innovative Treatments and Services for People With Serious Mental Illness: Looking Back and Moving Ahead

As an introduction to this special issue on New Developments in Community Treatment, Interventions, and Services for Serious Mental Illness, we, the editors of this special issue (TL & GS), sought the perspective of Kim T. Mueser to revisit the great changes that have taken place over the years. We felt this historical and critical view of the field would be a great way to understand how we got to where we are now, in terms of new treatments and services related to work, psychological symptoms, stigma, housing, and recovery described in this special issue. As such, this narrative review revisits important milestones in psychiatric rehabilitation for people with persistent, severe, or serious mental illness (i.e., SMI), beginning with its roots and early developments, and followed by extensive research leading to the current plethora of empirically validated interventions and programs. The influence of the recovery movement and the shift towards more person-centred care are considered for the contemporary practice of psychiatric rehabilitation. We also provide a critical analysis of the status of our field, including both major accomplishments and ongoing challenges, such as limited access to evidence-based rehabilitation practices, new technologies, and workforce issues. Hopeful future directions are proposed for addressing these and other challenges. We hope this introduction, as well as the articles chosen and peer reviewed for this special issue, will help you discover the ever-burgeoning field of recovery-oriented services and treatments for people with SMI.