Interventions aimed at ameliorating mental illness and promoting wellness are examined. Integration of research and treatment models that consider mental health well-being in terms of pathology with models of wellness broadly conceived as optimal psychological and physical development. The meanings of “wellness,” “health,” and “illness” across lines of identity (e.g. ethnicity, culture, gender, sexuality, class, and age) are explored. Pathological outcomes (e.g., depression, anxiety, psychosis) are examined in tandem with such constructs as resilience, hope, wisdom, and spirituality, and considered at the individual, interpersonal, and community level.
