There are three general concepts that define how therapists choose what they do: 3Īn eclectic therapist using the theoretical integration method of therapy adheres to two or more established, researched based theoretical approaches and combines them to draw from the best of each according to each client’s needs. Therapists purposefully select techniques based on established criteria.
3 How Eclectic Therapists Select Their Techniques and Underlying Beliefsĭespite the fact that it is flexible and pulls from multiple therapeutic approaches depending on the needs of the client, eclectic therapy is a very intentional approach to mental health therapy. Strategies to facilitate understanding (helping the therapist learn about the clients and the clients to learn about themselves) are commonly used in the early stages of therapy, and then other techniques from different therapeutic approaches are used as therapy progresses depending on what the client is dealing with and what is needed to advance toward goals. Therapy evolves over time, and the therapist will use different techniques at different stages. The process itself is different in eclectic therapy. The relationship between client and counselor forms the foundation that supports the process. The therapeutic relationship is the heart of eclectic therapy and what drives the therapist’s choices of techniques to use with each client. 1 Goals are determined not by the theory itself (as in changing core beliefs and thought patterns that is the desired outcome of CBT) but by the client and therapist based on the client’s problem, desires, and motivation.
The therapist then identifies core ingredients that various theories share in order to help clients solve the problems that caused them to seek therapy.
1 This involves learning about the multiple facets of each client including their thoughts, feelings, behaviors, relationships, and more. To do this, an eclectic therapist seeks to understand each client in all their complexity in order to be successful in helping clients reach their own goals. Indeed, integrational therapists don’t grasp at straws in an attempt to find something, anything, that will help but instead are intentional in the approaches they choose with each client. It’s important to know, though, that eclectic therapy is far from a random hodgepodge of ideas applied haphazardly to clients. In contrast, an eclectic therapist might select some aspects of CBT, DBT, and other theories that make sense for a specific client. Some helping theories, such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) for example, are structured and methodical, and all clients learn the various information, strategies, and techniques that are part of the particular model. In Eclectic Therapy, skilled therapists tailor their work to what is best for the client and their challenges rather than adhering to a single theory as a one-size-fits-all approach to helping. How Is an Eclectic Approach Different from a Specialized Approach? The heart of eclectic therapy involves understanding each client as a unique person with their own particular problems and then selecting research-based techniques from across different types of therapy in order to help that client grow in a personally meaningful way. Gordon Paul, an early proponent of eclectic therapy, captured the essence of this type of therapy when he described it as an approach that seeks to determine, “What treatment, by whom, is the most effective for this individual with that specific problem, under which set of circumstances, and how does it come about?” 3