Balancing the Imbalance: Integrating a Strength-Based Approach with a Medical Model

There are major differences in perspective between the traditional medical model of treatment for troubled children and more recent strength-based approaches. This is particularly evident when widespread use of psychoactive drugs becomes a substitute for interpersonal therapeutic interventions. Drugs and relationships both impact the brain, but in markedly different ways. Medications may impact the brain in ways that facilitate short-term management of behavior. Long-term positive changes come as corrective interpersonal relationships serve to rewire the resilient human brain. More research is needed in order to understand how psychiatric medications and therapeutic interventions can be balanced for the benefit of troubled children.