Postmodern Implications for Theoretical Integration of Counseling Approaches.

There is a wide array of healing systems available to counselors, including humanistic, psychoanalytic, cognitive, and behavioral. In addition to these primary orientations, there are countless eclectic combinations and lesser known systems of counseling (Corsini & Wedding, 1995). For the most part, these systems have underlying assumptions that are incompatible (Messer & Warren, 1995). For example, psychoanalysis posits unconscious conflict as the source of psychopathology, whereas behaviorism attributes symptomatology to environmental contingencies. Notably, meta-analysis of counseling outcome studies clearly shows that no one approach has emerged as the correct or most helpful. As a result of these studies it seems that all well-established approaches promote healing (Frank & Frank, 1991; D. A. Shapiro & Shapiro, 1982). This situation--the existence of multiple, incompatible systems that have approximately equal ability to heal--has been a perplexing theoretical puzzle for mental health professionals. If everything works, what is it, precisely, that is responsible for psychological healing? One speculation is that the common factors of counseling approaches cause clients to get better (Frank & Frank, 1991). In other words, factors that are common to all counseling process, such as support and the ability to express oneself without being judged, facilitate healing, not the specific methods prescribed by a particular theory, such as interpretation or reframing. Although this speculation seems plausible, it only addresses the process aspect of counseling. If there are common healing factors inherent in counseling process, it is reasonable to assume that the content, or narrative framework, of counseling systems have commonalties that contribute to positive treatment outcomes. Establishing these common content factors of counseling approaches would be a significant step toward theoretically integrating the approaches. However, speculations about common content factors of counseling approaches are seldom mentioned in the counseling literature. This lack of attention is probably due to the seemingly impossible task of integrating such a multiplicity of healing systems (Messer & Warren, 1995). The purpose of this article is to present a model that begins to theoretically integrate counseling approaches in a postmodern context by examining common content features of counseling narratives. Postmodernism emphasizes the constructed, narrative nature of knowledge, in contrast to modernism, which considers truth as fundamentally singular and objectively verifiable (D'Andrea, 2000). Unlike previous theorists who have explicated common process factors of counseling (e.g., Frank & Frank, 1991), my aim is to examine the narrative, content features of counseling approaches to determine some of their common elements. Once ascertained, these common narrative features will form a beginning foundation for a theoretical integration of counseling approaches. I shall accomplish these goals by discussing types of eclecticism, modern and postmodern contexts, and common narrative features of counseling approaches. TYPES OF ECLECTICISM THAT HAVE BEEN PROPOSED To propose an integration of counseling approaches, various categories of integration, or eclecticism, must be considered. Messer and Warren (1995) described three types of eclecticism: common factors, technical, and theoretical. Common factors eclecticism posits that the common factors of various counseling approaches, such as support and the positive regard of the counselor, are responsible for healing (again, see Frank & Frank, 1991). Therefore, this type of eclecticism emphasizes an integration of the common factors that are effective across various orientations. Common factors eclecticism, thus, is not concerned with integrating the various theoretical assumptions of counseling approaches. …