The deficit model has predominated in clinical psychology for decades, providing a foundation for how the field understands and promotes mental health and well-being. According to the deficit model, psychopathology is the result of dysfunction and distress, which are attributed to some deficiency within the individual. Thus, the onus is on the individual to enact certain changes to reduce distress and dysfunction and consequently improve mental health. This model further characterizes psychopathology as feelings, thoughts, and behaviors that deviate from the general population. By identifying and targeting areas of dysfunction and deficit within individuals, clinicians develop and implement interventions intended to improve functioning.

Even though the deficit model approach to improving well-being focuses on intervention, the origins of this model stemmed from the hereditability model, which ...