Resilience

Assessing Strengths, Resilience, and Growth to Guide Clinical Interventions

January 1, 2005
Professional Psychology: Research and Practice

This article emphasizes the need for a shift away from the traditional deficit-focused approach to mental health. The authors discuss the growing interest in strengths, resilience, and growth in the field of mental health.

A life narrative that includes the aftermath of trauma as having value, not merely despite the trauma but because of it, has a more emotionally powerful positive quality.
Dr. Tedeschi and Dr. Kilmer

Recently, the field of mental health has incorporated a growing interest in strengths, resilience, and growth, psychological phenomena that may be associated with healthy adjustment trajectories and profitably integrated into strategies for clinical assessment and practice. This movement constitutes a significant shift from traditional deficit-oriented approaches.

Addressing clinical practitioners, this article (a) provides a broad overview of these constructs and phenomena, (b) discusses their relevance for clinical assessment and intervention, and (c) describes selected strategies and approaches for conducting assessments that can guide intervention.

Read the Article “Assessing Strengths, Resilience, and Growth to Guide Clinical Interventions” https://doi.org/10.1037/0735-7028.36.3.230

About the Authors