Title:Accentuate the Positive: Strengths-Based Therapy for Adolescents
VOLUME: 10 ISSUE: 3
Author(s):Eunice Yuen*, Julie Sadhu, Cynthia Pfeffer, Barry Sarvet, R. Susan Daily, Jonathan Dowben, Kamilah Jackson, John Schowalter, Theodore Shapiro and Dorothy Stubbe
Affiliation:Yale Child Study Center, New Haven, CT, Pritzker Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago; Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York, NY, University of Massachusetts – Baystate, Springfield, MA, St. Elizabeth Healthcare, Crestview Hills, KY, Lackland Air Force Base, TX, PerformCare, Robbinsville, NJ, Yale Child Study Center, New Haven, CT, New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York, NY, Yale Child Study Center, New Haven, CT
Keywords:Strengths-based, adolescent psychiatry, positive psychology, patient-centered care, health
promotion.
Abstract:
Purpose: 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.
Methods: The article uses a clinical case to highlight the attributes of a strength-based model
in the psychiatric treatment of adolescents.
Results: Outcome metrics from a number of studies have demonstrated enhanced youth and
parent satisfaction and decreased use of hospital level of care with the implementation of
strengths-based therapeutic modalities.
Implications: Incorporating strengths-based interventions into conventional psychiatric practice
provides a multi-faceted treatment approach that promotes recovery in children and adolescents
with psychiatric disorders.
