The Boundaries of Psychiatric Rehabilitation

The authors describe the development of modern psychiatric rehabilitation, from its early association with occupational therapy to its present state as a discipline with an armamentarium of treatment strategies. Psychiatric rehabilitation addresses difficulties in three domains of patients' lives: clinical status, functional status, and quality of life. The authors suggest that the acceptance of rehabilitation as a separate discipline has been slow due to boundary conflicts between these domains and between the disciplines that traditionally represent them. The authors call for a more central role for rehabilitation, which integrates treatment in the three domains and uses group methods to formulate plans and enhance client involvement.