A BALINT GROUP BY TELECONFERENCE
LEADER PENNY LOVE
Penny Love, an experienced Balint Leader and Trainer, is pleased to offer a Balint group by teleconference. This group is open to those who are interested in the Balint Group experience as well as those who are are currently leading Balint groups and want as well the experience of belonging to a Balint group. It is also open to those who are hoping to become Balint Leaders . It is expected that participants of this group will be general practitioners and medical specialists .
Timetable: The group will meet by teleconference on the last Thursday of each month between February and November.
Time: 6.30pm Eastern Australian Time during summer 7pm rest of the year.
Cost: $500.00 for the year’s sessions.
Leader: Penny Love is a psychoanalytic psychotherapist with over thirty five years of experience in individual, group and family work She is an accredited Balint leader and trainer. She has been vice president of the BSANZ and convener and chair of four Balint IntensiveTraining Workshops. She is a Balint Leader supervisor and an Observer of Leaders in training.
Workshop Description
The group will run as a normal Balint group with two cases being worked each session with Penny leading. There will also be a time for discussion of the Balint process and leadership.
Membership of this group is not part of the accreditation for leadership process, however people intending to seek accreditation will benefit from this experience.
Participants are expected to commit to the entire year of meetings. Regular attendance is important in order to establish the dynamics of the group. While occasional absences are unavoidable they do affect the working of the group.
Participants are invited to present cases where they have experienced a strong reaction, such as: distress,anxiety, delight, frustration or uncertainty. The case is presented briefly and informally, emphasising the nature of the clinician–patient interaction and including the clinician’s feelings and reactions. The group members then discuss the case with emphasis on the relationship rather than the clinical material.
Balint groups help clinicians
Recognize that they are not alone in having challenging interactions with patients
• Develop increased understanding and empathy for patients
• Explore how feelings and thoughts affect the clinician-patient relationship
• Expand their capacity and repertoire for handling difficult situations with patients
What are Balint groups?
Balint groups are named after Hungarian born psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, Michael Balint who, with his wife Enid Balint a psychoanalyst and social worker, developed a unique method for understanding the doctor-patient relationship in London in the 1950s. This method has been refined over the past fifty years. Traditionally a Balint group is an ongoing group where the same GPs meet on a regular basis for months or years. Balint groups are an important part of GP CME in in UK, Europe and USA and there are a growing number in NZ and Australia.
A Balint group offers a safe and supportive setting to reflect upon difficult or intriguing cases with a focus on the clinician-patient relationship.