Strengths-Based Therapy

Strength Based Therapy is the a text on working with clients through the lens of positive psychology. It lays a theoretical foundation to help students and practitioners understand the grounding and theory behind the approach and then lays out a model for use with a variety of client types/settings. The book draws from cutting edge research on neuroscience, positive emotions, empowerment and change. It helps students understand how to get the client engaged as an active participant in their treatment by assuming the client knows best about what has worked and has not worked in their lives. It draws heavily on skill building and cognitive behavioral (evidence based) approaches. The book will first present the theory and model and then go into application via various clinical illustrations.

“This is an interesting book which encourages the reader to look at potential problems and situations from a positive perspective and also from different cultural and social perspectives...The concepts in this book apply equally well to teachers, parents and students. A strength-based approach has much to offer as part of a whole school approach to developing a positive culture.”

-- Mary Mountstephen

Dr. Elsie Jones-Smith  is a licensed psychologist, a certified school psychologist, and the President of the Strengths-Based Institute. She holds two Ph.D. degrees, one in clinical psychology from Michigan State University and the other in counselor education from the University at Buffalo.  She is a Fellow in two divisions of the American Psychological Association, Division 17, the Society of Counseling Psychology, and Division 45, the Society for the Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity, and Race. She is a Diplomate in counseling psychology (ABPP), a Fellow of the Academy of Counseling Psychology, and a prior Distinguished Visitor for the American Psychological Association.Dr. Jones-Smith has extensive experience in strengths-based therapy, graduate level teaching, program evaluation (Head Start, Title –Chapter 1), tests construction, and psychological consultation with schools. Her clinical orientation is strengths-based. She has currently expanded her clinical work to include cultural neuroscience.She is the author of six books, including the recently published Culturally Diverse Counseling: Theories and Practice (Sage, 2019). Second Edition of Theories of Counseling and Psychotherapy: An Integrative Approach (2016) with Sage Publications (which presents a chapter on Neuroscience and describes it as the Fifth Force in psychology); Spotlighting the Strengths of Every Single Student: Why U.S. Schools Need a New, Strengths-Based Approach (2011, ABC-CLIO (2011); and Nurturing Nonviolent Children: A Guide for Parents, Educators, and Counselors (Praeger, 2008).Two of her articles (“The Strengths-Based Counseling Model” (which was nominated as the outstanding article in TCP for 2006) and “Ethnic Minorities: Life Stress, Social Support and Mental Health Issues” (1985) have been cited by The Counseling Psychologist as major contributions to the field of psychology. She has served on numerous editorial boards, including The Counseling Psychologist (TCP), The Journal of Counseling Psychology, and Counselor Education and Supervision.Dr. Jones-Smith has developed and published two theories in psychology: Strengths-Based Therapy and Ethnic Identity Development. In addition, she has developed a strengths-based educational approach for working with youth in schools and several instruments that measure ethnic identity development, students’ strengths, and teachers’ strengths.

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