The Evolution of a Point of View: The Enduring Personal Influence of the Mental Research Institute

Abstract

This work honors the work of the Mental Research Institute (MRI) in Palo Alto, California, upon the sale of the building it long occupied, and particularly the closing of the MRI Brief Therapy Center as a research and training center. The major position of the article is that the MRI was much more than a place, a name, or the people who have been part of it. Instead, the ideas and practices of those who have been part of the MRI are what endure and thrive. As a case in point, the author follows his own professional journey from his first contact with the MRI ideas as a “difference that made a difference” through his present day work.