Background: - An understanding of the experience of individuals living with severe mental rnillness cared by mental health professionals and caregivers promote better understanding of thernpatient. This may in turn promote enhancement of the therapeutic relationship, engagement ofrnpeople living with severe mental illness in their care and finally improvement of clinicalrnoutcomes. rnObjective: - To explore the care-receiving experience of people with severe mental illnessrnreceiving care at Ammanuel Mental Specialized Hospital. rnMethod: - a qualitative study design was used. Nine in-depth interviews were conducted usingrnsemi-structured questions. The in-depth interviews were audio recorded, transcribed and rntranslated into English. Data was coded by using open code 4.03 software package and thematicrnanalysis was used to identify key themes. rnResults: - There appear five overarching themes with underlying subthemes: firstly, thernmeaning to illness and care received. Most participants mentioned that it is very difficult to rnaccept mental illness and they tend to accept it gradually and mentioned the care received wasrnlifesaving and mean a lot for their survival. Secondly, Positive experiences of care received,rnmost had positive experiences regarding the care they received. They mentioned variety ofrnpositive expectations and hopes about what the care they received would lead to in terms ofrnimprovement in their current and future situations. Thirdly, negative experiences of carernreceived, their negative care receiving experiences emanated from different problems theyrnencountered and stigma they faced while receiving care. Fourthly, relationships with carernprovider in which most experienced good relationships while few experienced bad relationshipsrnand finally coping mechanisms. rnConclusion: - The study revealed the positive and negative experiences of people with severernmental illness regarding the care received. It is paramount importance to continue positive aspect rnof the care provided and to devise ways to tackle negative aspect of care voiced by care receiversrnto improve care provisions that enhance patientsâ€™ recovery.