ABSTRACT
In 1988, Monte Bobele and I published a case study in the (then) Journal of Strategic and Systemic Therapies, entitled “An Interactional Approach to Marital Infidelity: Including the Other Woman in Therapy” (Green & Bobele, 1988). 1 The article described a less-than-conventional approach to couple’s work when infidelity is the presenting issue, and the clinical work was grounded firmly in the foundational assumptions of the Mental Research Institute (MRI). At the time, I was a beginning family therapy doctoral student and Monte was my mentor. I was most fortunate to learn from Monte; I have always viewed him as the most MRI-ish person I’ve ever met – clinically and interpersonally. With his laid-back, one-down, three-moves-ahead therapeutic sensibility, Monte lives, breathes, and dances MRI principles and practices. And this case was a classic lesson for me in the elegant minimalism of interrupting solution attempts while honoring our clients’ worldview (Watzlawick, Weakland, & Fisch, 1974).
