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Although eclecticism is the most common theoretical orientation of clinical psychologists, little is known about the views and practices of eclectics. We replicated and extended Garfield and Kurtz's survey, reported in 1977. Results from 113 self-designated eclectic clinicians indicated that 58% previously adhered to a specific theoretical orientation, typically psychodynamic (44%) or behavioral (27%). The most frequent theoretical combinations were cognitive-behavioral, humanistic-cognitive, and psychoanalytic-cognitive. Three central themes for defining eclecticism were pragmatically selecting whichever method best fits a particular client (34% of sample), combining a couple of theories in therapy (18%), and integrating a number of therapies (21%). The majority of respondents preferred the label integrative over eclectic in describing their practices. The results are discussed in terms of theoretical (as opposed to technical) integration, which appears to reflect the future direction of the field.
Norcross et al. (Fri,) studied this question.