A counseling approach that incorporates a variety of counseling theories in order to create a treatment program to meet the specific needs of the patient or client is called an eclectic approach. Eclectic counselors do not adhere to just one specific approach; instead counselors apply a range of techniques hoping to establish a foundation for their client or patient personally. It is important to have the appropriate treatment with the right problem and understand that not just one technique will help every client or patient that is being counseled, but there has been much debate and controversy in the psychoanalytic community. The inconsistencies in the research about the eclectic approach and the non-existence of a dedicated or comprehensive
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Counseling efforts should be to help the client or patient as effectively as possible.
An eclectic approach to psychotherapy is on the surface effective if not paramount among the ways to apply intervention at the counseling stage. Drawing information from different theories or combining theories allows the approach or technique applied to the client to be as unique and personal as the personality of the client themselves. Unfortunately, tailor fitting technique and application is not a streamlined process. This approach has been studied and yielded universally no successful results for a comprehensive way to combine theory, technique and application. Essentially trying to stratify what theory for what problem for treatment or technique for what type of patient is impossible because there are simply too many elements to consider to properly craft an effective …show more content…
Empirical foundation and levels of efficacy in technique are huge components in how to make the connection between theories applied, technique used, type of person and counseling style. In the article by Lazarus and Beutler (1993), the point is suggested that, “We favor the restriction of theories to two types: those that are founded on empirically derived relationships among client problem, therapeutic procedure, and outcome; and those that outline the processes by which a counselor can reliably select and implement therapeutic procedures. The latter type of theory is one that acknowledges the need to select and combine interventions based on systematic and replicable observations” (Lazarus and Buetler, 1993). Where are these connections being made, and how can one trust the outcomes? Not simple questions to answer, but in the task of effectively helping a client or patient the outcome and success of the technique have higher priority. Lazarus and Buetler (1993) say ,“Counselors seem more intent on attaching a label to their activities than on spelling out precisely what operations they perform with various clients and the means by which they decide on those procedures. As London (1964) observed, "However interesting, plausible, and appealing a theory may be, it is techniques, not
Counseling efforts should be to help the client or patient as effectively as possible.
An eclectic approach to psychotherapy is on the surface effective if not paramount among the ways to apply intervention at the counseling stage. Drawing information from different theories or combining theories allows the approach or technique applied to the client to be as unique and personal as the personality of the client themselves. Unfortunately, tailor fitting technique and application is not a streamlined process. This approach has been studied and yielded universally no successful results for a comprehensive way to combine theory, technique and application. Essentially trying to stratify what theory for what problem for treatment or technique for what type of patient is impossible because there are simply too many elements to consider to properly craft an effective …show more content…
Empirical foundation and levels of efficacy in technique are huge components in how to make the connection between theories applied, technique used, type of person and counseling style. In the article by Lazarus and Beutler (1993), the point is suggested that, “We favor the restriction of theories to two types: those that are founded on empirically derived relationships among client problem, therapeutic procedure, and outcome; and those that outline the processes by which a counselor can reliably select and implement therapeutic procedures. The latter type of theory is one that acknowledges the need to select and combine interventions based on systematic and replicable observations” (Lazarus and Buetler, 1993). Where are these connections being made, and how can one trust the outcomes? Not simple questions to answer, but in the task of effectively helping a client or patient the outcome and success of the technique have higher priority. Lazarus and Buetler (1993) say ,“Counselors seem more intent on attaching a label to their activities than on spelling out precisely what operations they perform with various clients and the means by which they decide on those procedures. As London (1964) observed, "However interesting, plausible, and appealing a theory may be, it is techniques, not