What is the difference between a strength-based approach and a deficit-focused approach?

• A. Strength-based focuses on client resources and capacities; deficit-focused emphasizes problems and deficits.
• B. Strength-based ignores problems; deficit-focused ignores strengths
• C. Strength-based is about finances; deficit-focused is about mental health
• D. They are unrelated approaches

Answer: (A)

The key idea is how practitioners frame what they look for in a client. A strength-based approach centers on what the client brings to the table—the resources, capacities, skills, and supports available in their environment—and uses those assets to build motivation, set goals, and promote change. The deficit-focused approach, on the other hand, concentrates on problems, deficits, risks, and symptoms, aiming to fix what is lacking or malfunctioning. It’s about identifying what’s wrong and often addressing those gaps or impairments.

The statement that best captures the difference says the strength-based view emphasizes resources and capacities, while the deficit-focused view emphasizes problems and deficits. This framing helps explain why these are distinct orientations in practice: one starts from assets and works outward to solutions, while the other starts from problems and works toward remediation.

The other descriptions don’t fit as well. It’s not accurate to say the strength-based approach ignores problems or that deficit-focused ignores strengths—they both acknowledge issues, but with different emphasis. It’s also incorrect to imply these approaches are solely about finances versus mental health, or that they are unrelated, since they are two ways of orienting practice in many domains.