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Eclecticism in Couple and Family Therapy

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Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy

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Synonyms

Assimilative integration; Eclecticism; Heterogeneity; Synthesis; Theoretical integration

Introduction

The term eclectic has been both widely used and misunderstood in the field of psychotherapy. Recently it has come into some disrepute and developed the connotation of indiscriminately drawing from various theories and techniques without a core foundation. Eclecticism has emerged in couple and family therapy (CFT) in particular due to the multiple approaches that do not clearly fit traditional theoretical models and techniques and are not anchored in a comprehensive conceptual base. The term systemic has also been appropriated by some as a defining aspect of CFT, while many others consider systems to be core to the entire field of. The wider realm of psychotherapy has delineated models that distinguish eclecticism from other models such as spiritual orientation, which can be viewed as an aspect of diversity.

Prominent Associated Figures

Arnold Lazarus, John Norcross, Marvin...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Terence Patterson

Authors
  1. Terence Patterson
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Terence Patterson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Center for Applied Psychological and Family Studies, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Jay L. Lebow

  2. The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Center for Applied Psychological and Family Studies, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Anthony L. Chambers

  3. The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Center for Applied Psychological and Family Studies, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Douglas C. Breunlin

Section Editor information

  1. University of Saint Joseph, West Harford, CT, USA

    Rachel Diamond Ph.D.

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Patterson, T. (2019). Eclecticism in Couple and Family Therapy. In: Lebow, J.L., Chambers, A.L., Breunlin, D.C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49425-8_524

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