Resilience in action: an evidence-informed, theoretically driven approach to building strengths in an office-based setting.

Positive Youth Development and resilience-based strategies designed to develop youth capabilities are promising means to reduce risky behaviors. This article focuses on applying a strengths-based approach in a health setting. It is anchored in behavioral models that propose that people make health-promoting decisions when they possess enough information to wish to change, motivation to drive them toward change, and the skill sets to take action toward and then maintain healthier behaviors. It considers how our interactions will benefit when we (1) form a trustworthy connection and health-promoting partnership, (2) use a behavioral screen that addresses risk in the context of existing strengths, (3) elicit strengths as well as challenges, (4) facilitate youth to derive their own solutions, and (5) offer teens positive coping strategies.