A Balint Group is a structured reflective group space with the aim of better understanding the therapeutic relationship and workers’ responses to their work. Each of us in our professional roles have habitual responses to particular types of people and their problems. For example we might find ourselves feeling energised following one encounter or preoccupied by a persistent doubt or worry after another. Very simply, our ability to respond to people and their problems is dramatically affected by how we feel with that person in those moments and beyond. A Balint Group is a regular opportunity to step away from the usual pace of the daily professional demands and into a confidential space to discuss how it can feel to do the work.

This Balint Group is for healthcare professionals who are interested in deepening their understanding of the role of the therapeutic relationship in their work. Each meeting lasts for 90 minutes. During this time, usually 2 group members will volunteer to present a case that has been on their mind. Presenters are free to speak about whatever comes to mind about their relationship with the case for 5 or 6 minutes. No preparation is required. The group members listening have a few minutes to ask a few factual questions from the presenter to which the presenter can respond. The presenter then listens to the group members discussion about the case they have just heard for the remaining 30 or 40 minutes. The presenter is then invited back in to feedback on what they have heard.

Taking time to attend a Balint Group can provide the containment and safety required to tune into our feelings and to do so in service of both the patient/client and ourselves. We may become aware of our own habitual ways of responding to particular patients and problems, and become curious about other perspectives or possibilities. We can learn that there are many ways to approach a challenging situation. We learn that being able to pay attention to how we feel is an important part of the day to day work. It is an important source of our knowledge.

Regular attendance can help participants recognise the value of this for themselves.

The upcoming Balint group series is for: clinicians and professionals from a broad background including psychological wellbeing practitioners, counsellors, psychotherapists, social workers, pharmacists, nurses, doctors, psychologists, and others offering pastoral care in a range of settings such as criminal justice and education.