Ecological Psychology: Replacing the Medical Model Paradigm for School-Based Psychological and Psychoeducational Services

Abstract

Traditional medical model service delivery systems have facilitated the creation of nationwide mental health and education pandemics for children and youth. The characteristics and shortcomings of medical model approaches leading to these problems are explicated, including the focus of services on individuals rather than populations, relying almost exclusively on remediation rather than prevention and early intervention, unintentionally creating a severe shortage of service providers, and providing treatments that lack sufficient efficacy. An ecological model of human behavior and service delivery is presented as an alternative that embodies the potential to address these problems and successfully address the mental health and education pandemics we currently face. It is concluded that a paradigm shift toward an ecological model is both essential and long overdue.