Key Takeaways
- Eclectic therapy uses different kinds of treatments to meet people’s needs.
- It works well for problems like anxiety, PTSD, and personality disorders.
- Some people might find eclectic therapy hard to follow because it can lack structure.
Eclectic therapy is an approach that draws on multiple theoretical orientations and techniques. It is a flexible and multifaceted approach to therapy that allows the therapist to use the most effective methods available to address each individual client’s needs. It is also sometimes referred to as multi-modal or integrative therapy.
In the early part of the 20th century, many therapists rigidly adhered to a single style of treatment. Over the last decade, more therapists started to draw ideas from different therapeutic approaches.
Research suggests that most psychotherapists today take an eclectic or integrative approach. One survey of professionals found that only 15% used a single theoretical model and that the median number of orientations used in practice was four.
Types of Eclectic Therapy
Several specific types of eclectic therapy have emerged, each drawing from various techniques to address individual needs. These include:
- Brief eclectic therapy: It is a short-term therapy incorporating psychodynamic and cognitive behavioral treatments over a limited number of sessions to address specific problems. It’s often used for PTSD to help individuals find meaning in their traumatic experiences and develop coping strategies.
- Cognitive-interpersonal therapy: This approach uses cognitive behavioral therapy elements to help individuals understand how their thoughts affect their relationships.
- Multi-modal therapy: This type incorporates social-cognitive learning theory and various techniques from other therapies. It evaluates an individual’s needs by examining behavior, emotions, senses, visualizations, thoughts, relationships, and physical health.
- Transtheoretical therapy: This approach focuses on understanding the stages of change, enabling individuals to achieve goals, improve relationships, and make positive life changes.
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Techniques
Eclectic therapy is flexible, but therapists create a customized plan for each client based on their unique needs. Therapists may draw on the following theoretical approaches:
Specific techniques from these approaches may include exposure therapy, sensory therapy, relaxation therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and mindfulness.
What Eclectic Therapy Can Help With
Eclectic therapy can assist with various needs. Some conditions and problems it can successfully treat include:
Benefits of Eclectic Therapy
Eclectic therapy can have a number of important benefits. These include:
- Individualized approach: Because this approach to therapy is so adaptable, your therapist can design a treatment plan that is suited to your specific, unique needs.
- Engagement: The use of multiple techniques may help people feel more interested and engaged in the therapy process.
- Flexible: Because your therapist can assess your needs and select the approaches and techniques they think will help you the most, it is possible to switch between techniques to address one or more needs. For example, your treatment might involve treating a phobia but also address problems with chronic stress.
Effectiveness
Research suggests that eclectic therapy can be both a safe and effective treatment:
- Eclectic therapy has been described as an effective therapeutic approach to address selective mutism, an anxiety disorder in children in which there is a consistent failure to speak in specific social situations. This treatment involved drawing on psychodynamic, behavioral, cognitive-behavioral, and family theories and interventions.
- In a study published in the European Journal of Psychotraumatology, researchers integrated elements from psychodynamic and cognitive behavioral approaches to create a successful eclectic treatment program for PTSD.
- A 2017 study found that an eclectic approach using art therapy and CBT was effective for improving mental health and reducing anxiety in children.
Things You Should Know About Eclectic Therapy
While eclectic therapy can be effective, there are some potential downsides to consider. Some issues you might encounter during eclectic therapy include:
- Lack of structure: If you tend to prefer a more structured, easy-to-follow approach, you might find eclectic therapy more difficult. In such cases, talk to your therapist about devising a more predictable structure.
- Trial-and-error: It may also seem at times that you are following a trial-and-error approach. While trying different tactics can help you find what works for you, it can also be frustrating and time-consuming.
- Not ideal for some conditions: For certain conditions that tend to respond best to a specific type of therapy (such as exposure therapy for phobias or dialectical behavioral therapy for borderline personality disorder), it is often a better idea to primarily stick to that specific treatment modality.
- Insurance coverage: The rise of HMOs (Health Maintenance Organizations) and managed care approaches to healthcare has furthered the eclectic therapy movement. In order to receive insurance reimbursement, therapists may have to document a variety of empirically supported techniques often drawn from different theoretical orientations. Insurance concerns may play a role in the type of treatments your therapist utilizes. Since eclectic therapists focus on using research-validated techniques, however, it is still likely that many treatments will be covered by your insurance.
- Therapist training: Some therapists adhere largely to a single orientation, such as psychodynamic or cognitive behavioral theory, but may actually use a variety of techniques rooted in other theories as needed. Others self-identify as eclectic in their treatment orientation. Either way, it is important that the therapist possesses a solid understanding of each theory for the techniques they use.
How to Get Started
If you are interested in trying eclectic therapy, consider asking your doctor for a referral or look at an online therapist directory. Eclectic therapists often refer to themselves as integrative therapists or multi-modal therapists, so you might consider searching for those or similar terms. You might also consider online therapy as an option.
During your first appointment, your therapist will ask you questions to help get to know you and understand your goals. This initial discussion might involve talking about your background, work, personal life, support system, and current life satisfaction.
As you build a therapeutic relationship, you can then delve deeper toward making goals and deciding which techniques might be the most effective for what you want to accomplish. Because eclectic therapy is adaptable, these goals and strategies can change when needed.
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
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Tasca GA, Sylvestre J, Balfour L, et al. What clinicians want: Findings from a psychotherapy practice research network survey. Psychotherapy (Chic). 2015;52(1):1-11. doi:10.1037/a0038252
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Camposano L. The Professional Counselor: Silent Suffering – Children with Selective Mutism; 2011.
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Gersons BP, Schnyder U. Learning from traumatic experiences with brief eclectic psychotherapy for PTSD. Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2013;20:4. doi:10.3402/ejpt.v4i0.21369
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Ahmadi A, Mustaffa MS, Haghdoost AA, Mansor SMS. Eclectic approach to anxiety disorders among rural children. Trends Psychiatry Psychother. 2017;39(2):88-97. doi:10.1590/2237-6089-2016-0047
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