Eclecticism: Psychological theories as interwoven stories

Taking a postmodern perspective, the author makes the claim that all psychological theories could be viewed as stories. Labeling psychological theories as theory-stories, she argues that they reflect the life experience of their authors as well as their socio-political context. Further, by conceiving of psychology itself as a discipline of stories, she proposes that theory-stories are likely to contain many similar themes despite strong differences. These similarities exist because all theory-stories are born of human experience. The author further suggests that past theory-stories have the potential to inform, deconstruct, and add depth to current postmodern practice. This provides the justification for the importance of eclecticism. By way of example, she explores two theories, logotherapy and radical behaviorism, for their fit within a postmodern framework. Finally, by viewing theory as story, the author proposes that eclecticism provides necessary tools to explore story alternatives when liberating clients' from oppressive story lines.