Achieving a unified clinical science requires a meta-theoretical solution: Comment on Melchert (2016)

Timothy Melchert's vision for a unified clinical science that transcends the specific theoretical orientations and is grounded in the science of human psychology is a laudable goal. However, his solution to achieve this goal via reliance on evolutionary theory, neuroscience, and empirically verifiable research findings is not sufficient. The way forward is to recognize that the field of psychology is fragmented and lacks a clear meta-theoretical perspective. Conceptual work is needed to develop such a perspective, which can then allow for clearly defining the field and effectively integrating and assimilating the key concepts from the various theoretical orientations into a coherent whole. (PsycINFO Database Record