 The study evaluates the effectiveness of the social cognition and interaction training SCIT, in comparison to both therapeutic alliance focused therapy TAFT and treatment as usual TAU among persons with severe mental illness. Study purpose: 1 Assess the effectiveness of the SCIT and TAFT interventions, 2 Assess the processes that putatively contribute to the SCIT and TAFT outcomes. Method: A Randomized Controlled Trial RCT with approximately one hundred and fifty persons with severe mental illness will be carried out in different psychiatric rehabilitation units and clinics in Israel. To assess the relative effectiveness of the SCIT and TAFT interventions with persons with severe mental illness, both interventions will be compared to treatment as usual TAU. Clinicians will be trained in both interventions, and outcome measures, including social quality of life and social functioning, as well as mediating processes, including the identification of affective states, ToM, attribution errors and therapeutic alliance, will be assessed. Cognitive functioning and symptom severity will be treated as covariates. Statistical analyses will include analysis of variance which takes into consideration attrition, effect size, mediation processes and covariates. 