Accentuate the Positive: Strengths-Based Therapy for Adolescents

The field of psychiatry has conventionally employed a medical model in which mental health disorders are diagnosed and treated. However, the evidence is amassing that using a strengths-based approach that promotes wellness by engaging the patient’s assets and interests may work in synergy with the medical model to promote recovery. This harmonizes with the patient-centered care model that has been promoted by the Institute of Medicine.

Authors: Eunice Yuen, Julie Sadhu, Cynthia Pfeffer, Barry Sarvet, R. Susan Daily, Jonathan Dowben, Kamilah Jackson, John Schowalter, Theodore Shapiro, Dorothy Stubbe, 2020