Eclectism Approach to Therapy

For those of us, just beginning our careers in psychotherapy, it would seem most appropriate to pick one style of treatment, understand it fully, and specialize in this mode for a short time. However, this learner feels that it this single approach will surely limit the population and the diversity of clients that she could see and effectively treat, therefore, she would have to gain additional insight and practice in other therapies.

“The basis for eclectic practice is the contention that different clients and different problems require different treatments,” (Patterson, 159). As has consistently been “drilled” into our heads, is that the clients we will encounter will be complex, unpredictable, ever changing, and diverse. Therefore, it would be foolish to suppose that one a single approach could be a “fit” for all of these clients, or for that matter, “fit” a single client throughout their entire lifetime.

This learner currently finds herself aligned with Reality or Choice therapy. Her affiliation with this approach was chosen carefully in regard to her target population, i.e. those struggling with addictions. She strongly believes that “we” are not victims of circumstance, but rather freethinking and able individuals, who make choices throughout their lives. When applying this approach to someone who is struggling with addiction, the learner would contend, “If they made the choice to use, thus becoming addicted, then if they want it badly enough, they can make the choice to stop their usage.”

However, this learner also finds the Gestalt approach to be quite interesting and aligned with her own views of life and human existence. Therapists who subscribe to this method present goals for their clients with include; being more self-aware by acknowledging and accepting the integration of their own thoughts, feelings, and actions. One could easily describe Gestalt therapy as an approach to “wholeness” or as being one with the environment in which the client lives. “The Gestalt Therapist views life (the way we play, work, live, make love, die, etc.) as a "creative process". Therapy becomes a modality to objectively examine the way individuals, couples, groups and systems creatively adapt to their environment. Change occurs by heightening awareness and modifying the behaviors that impede the process of effective adaptation,” (Gestalt Counseling & Training Institute, para.2). While she contends that Reality or Choice therapies could present as a better “fit” for the client struggling with addiction, she also finds the Gestalt approach as an interesting alternative or one that could be easily integrated into the over therapeutic approach.

While one would be inclined to believe that most therapists would only utilize one particular therapeutic approach, “many mental health counselors continue to describe themselves as theoretically eclectic. Perhaps this resistance to identifying a single theory is a consequence of the widespread belief that one theory cannot possibly apply to,” (Bauman & Waldo, 13) all diverse populations. Additionally, many approaches have overlapping goals and principles, therefore this integration occurs in a natural process, rather than by abrupt changes. This learner only cautions that before one attempts to incorporate several approaches into one therapeutic session, that he or she gains sufficient knowledge and understanding of the processes that each entails. But in the end, she finds that the eclectic approach would better serve a wide variety of clients, thereby ensuring that the counselor becomes more effective in their practice.

Stephanie Henckel

References

Bauman, S. & Waldo, M. (1998). Existential theory and mental health counseling: If it were a snake, it would have bitten!. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 20(1), 13.

Gestalt Counseling & Training Institute. (2007). About gestalt therapy. Retrieved on September 3, 2008 from http://www.gestalt-annarbor.org/about_gestalt.htm

Patterson, C.H. (1989) Eclecticism in psychotherapy: Is integration possible? Psychotherapy, 26, 157-161.