Heinz von Foerster and my brief therapy work at the MRI

Abstract

Purpose

An attempt was made to establish a link between brief therapy à la MRI and Heinz von Foerster's view of how we might conceive of and live in the world of our creation, at least in a social sense.

Design/methodology/approach

The author relates how her encounter with Heinz von Foerster coincided with and further developed a way of thinking about and doing therapy which she found at the Mental Research Institute (MRI) in Palo Alto, California. She tries to show how Heinz the person has had a lasting effect on the way she conceives of and tries to conduct Brief Therapy à la MRI.

Findings

She finds that using Heinz's metaphor of dancing with the world quite useful in the elucidation of what therapy might be all about: how it might, metaphorically speaking, simply be about engaging a client or clients by dancing with them, allowing for the mutual creation of a new possibility.

Originality/value

This paper was written to commemorate Heinz and for therapists in search of a therapeutic stance.

Citation

Anger‐Díaz, B. (2005), "Heinz von Foerster and my brief therapy work at the MRI", Kybernetes, Vol. 34 No. 3/4, pp. 353-359. https://doi.org/10.1108/03684920510581521