ABSTRACT
Eclecticism is focused on the question `What will work here?' It is reminiscent of Paul's famous question: `In all its complexity, the question towards which all outcome research should ultimately be directed is the following: What treatment, by whom, is most effective for this individual with that speci®c problem, and under which set of circumstances?' (Paul, 1967: 111). Eclecticism focuses on the immediate pragmatic choice of intervention, on what is likely to work in a particular instance, and it has little interest in theoretical integration. The technical eclectic will use methods drawn from different approaches without an attempt to resolve any disagreements between schools. Eclectic approaches vary from the haphazard, the arbitrary and the idiosyncratic to the systematic, empirically validated models. Eclectic approaches are not allied to any particular theory of personality or psychopathology but are ®rmly based on empirical necessity.
