What Kind of Therapist am I?

Research shows that most therapists identify as some form of integrative or eclectic clinician, drawing from multiple modalities to treat their clients. There's common-sense appeal to individualizing treatment based on each client's needs. I may be drawn to a particular way of providing therapy, but I stay open to learning new interventions and approaches. No two clients are ever the same.

What I run into in supervision and teaching new clinicians, though, is that many times when we talk about integration, we end up falling into what researchers call syncretism. This is where instead of an orderly, considered approach to choosing interventions, clinicians arbitrarily merge different beliefs and practices. Syncretism leads to chaos rather than consideration.

The line between genuine eclecticism and syncretism can seem fine, but it actually matters deeply. Are we providing individualized, considered care for our clients, or are we mindlessly grabbing the latest intervention we encountered? From the outside they may look the same. But the efficacy and client experience are wildly different.

Few clinicians would say they purposefully practice syncretism. However, researchers have found that due to ignorance of theory and an attempt to be inclusive of all approaches, clinicians can fall into merging contradictory and incompatible schools of thought. The result is incoherent care.

The Path Forward

This is why practice and reflection matter so much. As a new therapist, all approaches are just theories on a page. They don't become real until you've tried to practice them with actual clients. Before that, it's hard to know what approaches work better for you and with different clients.

Another essential piece: therapy doesn't happen without a therapist. Each approach requires a provider, and who that clinician is matters deeply. Therapy is relational work where the person of the therapist is as important as, if not more important than, the modality being used.

Reflecting on what happens in a session moves your interventions from unreflective gut reactions to cultivated, intuitive responses rooted in actual theory and grounded in the clinical relationship.

This means therapists need to learn the particularities of different approaches. Understanding cognitive behavioral therapy helps you integrate it more thoughtfully with person-centered work. Appreciating gestalt theory helps you know when and why to use those interventions. Without understanding the particular, you're left guessing.

That's the work of developing your clinical identity. Not finding a way to do everything, but discovering what approaches resonate with who you are as a clinician, understanding their strengths and their limits, and then choosing them deliberately.