ll have "strengths and weaknesses from perspectives of clinical decision making to completeness of presentation to empirical evaluation and support" (p. 677). Mahalik's (1990) point is that eclectic theory, as well as theory belonging to the various theoretical schools, can be systematized to the extent that it, too, can be held up to empirical scrutiny. He notes, "Although the popularity of eclectic approaches will no doubt continue, it will only be with careful conceptual and empirical examination that . . . systematic eclectic approaches can clearly become more than 'seat of the pants' therapy" (Mahalik, 1990, p. 677).
Omer (1993) considers eclectic therapy to be one of the most important trends in contemporary psychology (p. 283). He maintains that eclectic therapy has a pragmatic outlook that is "the very opposite from the ideological one that characterized the previous school-dominated era in the field's history" (Omer, 1993, p. 283). He further elaborates, "The eclectic movement . . . owes its rise to the belief that no single system or theory can lay claim to the possession of psychotherapeutic 'truth,' or to a clear-cut superiority in therapeutic
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