Multimodal therapy was developed by Arnold Lazarus. It assesses a person across seven interacting modalities and picks techniques from many sources to fit each one, while staying grounded in social-cognitive learning theory.

Vocabulary & evolution of terms

• BASIC ID: Lazarus's acronym for Behavior, Affect, Sensation, Imagery, Cognition, Interpersonal relationships and Drugs/Biology. It is used to build a full profile of a person and plan treatment across all seven areas.
• Technical eclecticism: Lazarus's term for borrowing techniques from any approach that works, without adopting the theories behind them. He set it apart from mixing theories.