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Article Excerpt
Strategic eclecticism is set forth as a basis from which to use divergent theories and techniques within narrative therapy, a process-oriented model informed by postmodernism. The theory and practice of narrative therapy are described. Principles and guidelines for employing a narrative approach to strategic eclecticism are explicated along with a case example. Directions for future research and theory building also are considered. It is suggested that a narrative approach to strategic eclecticism speaks to the need for convergence between the modernist and postmodernist schools.
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In recent years, there has been increased literature in the field of mental health counseling regarding the merits and limitations of eclecticism (e.g., Blocher, 1989; Ginter, 1988, 1989a, 1989b, 1993, 1996; Harris, 1991; Hershenson, 1992; Hershenson, Power, & Seligman, 1989a, 1989b; Kelly, 1988, 1991; McBride & Martin, 1990; Nance & Meyers, 1991; Simon, 1991; Weinrach, 1991). A variety of eclectic models have been developed in counseling and psychotherapy, including prescriptive eclecticism (Frances, Clarkin, & Perry, 1984), radical eclecticism (Robertson, 1979), systematic eclecticism (Patterson, 1989), and technical eclecticism (Lazarus, 1989). Several authors (Colapinto, 1979, Liddle, 1982, Patterson) have suggested that the proliferation of eclectic models is reflective of a growing realization that no single clinical theory is adequate to account for all types of problems and clients. Although there is a lack of consensus regarding the meaning of the term eclecticism, many writers have discussed the importance of combining theories and techniques in a systematic manner (Fraser, 1984: Ginter: Guterman, 1991, 1992: Liddle; McBride & Martin: Simon).
Held (1984, 1991) has set forth strategic eclecticism as a basis for using theories and corresponding techniques from virtually any clinical system within the change process of another model. According to Held, strategic eclecticism allows for the systematic selection of disparate theories and techniques within a process-oriented model that emphasizes
a theory of change rather than the content to be changed. For example, Held (1984) has shown how the theories and techniques from various clinical systems can be incorporated within the change process of the interactional therapy model developed at the Mental Research Institute in Palo Alto, CA (Watzlawick, Weakland, & Fisch, 1974). Guterman (1996a) has similarly developed a solution-focused approach to strategic eclecticism. In each of these eclectic approaches, the metatheory (i.e., interactional therapy and solution-focused therapy) used to incorporate theories and techniques is stated so generally that it allows for the incorporation of virtually any content within its change process.
In this article, we propose that narrative therapy (White, 1995, 2000; White & Epston, 1990), a process-oriented model informed by postmodernism, serves as a useful framework from which to develop a strategic approach to eclecticism. In the past quarter century, postmodernism has emerged as an influential intellectual movement and has recently been considered in the mental health counseling literature (D'Andrea, 2000: Ellis, 1996, 1997a, 1997b: Ginter, 1997; Guterman, 1994, 1996b: Rigazio-DiGilio, Ivey, & Locke, 1997). Postmodernism holds that human experience is language-based and socially constructed (Derrida, 1989: Gergen, 1985; Lyotard, 1984). Various clinical models have been developed in keeping with a postmodern perspective. Although different in some respects, these postmodern models all emphasize the important role of language and a collaborative approach to working with clients (Anderson & Goolishian, 1988; de Shazer, 1991; White & Epston).
In narrative therapy, problems are conceptualized in terms of narratives that are influenced by one's culture. White and Epston (1990) have referred to these narratives as dominant stories. According to White (1995), a dominant story that has been reinforced by one's culture and thereby internalized is a habitual pattern of construing a situation or issue. The change process in narrative therapy involves helping clients to identify unique outcomes and create more preferred stories about problems and their lives (White, 1995, 2000: White & Epston). Narrative therapy is a fitting metatheory for strategic eclecticism because its dominant stories are stated so generally that it does not prescribe or proscribe what the stories shall be. Accordingly, mental health counselors can use theories and techniques from other models in a compatible way within the change process of narrative therapy.
A narrative approach to strategic eclecticism also speaks to the need for convergence between the modernist and postmodernist perspectives and, in particular, an increased understanding of other therapeutic models (Hansen, 2002; Johnson, 2001; Linares, 2001). Referring to this shift in thinking, Linares has borrowed the term ultramodernism (Marina, 2000), a view that allows for rapprochement between postmodern thinkers and those in the modernist camp. According...
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