THEORY, SUBJECTIVITY AND BIAS - CAN THERE BE A FUTURE

Most theorists in the realm of psychotherapy have not behaved like det ached, impartial scientists but like itinerant proselytizers. In more recent times, a bias of a different kind has entered the field. ''Herm eneutics,'' ''social constructionism,'' and ''post-positivism,'' altho ugh by no means synonymous, all offer a worldview that differs from es tablished tenets of scientific data collection and objective measureme nt. These complex intellectual traditions emphasize that recordings of reality are mere projections and creations of the observer. The doubl e impact of subjectivity and bias renders little hope for an optimisti c future. A possible solution lies in the expansion of a broad-based s ocial and cognitive learning theory that incorporates testable notions and empirically based clinical observations.