Handouts and Guides

• Here is a 2-page handout to give participants at the beginning of training - to explain what to expect from Balint Groups.
• Research on the characteristics of an effective Balint Group leader. Presented by Don Nease in Berlin in 2003. Essential Characteristics of Effective Balint Group Leadership - a PowerPoint presentation in pdf format. (pdf file)
• Handouts to a Balint Group (a pdf file) Frank Dornfest and Don Ransom wrote this excellent overview that could be given to participants in a Balint Group. They provide a brief history of this method of training, and set some expectations for group performance and outcome. Included is a 37-reference bibiliography.
• How-To Manual (a pdf file) Frank Dornfest compiled this valuable resource. This manual is a 16-page document that includes a description of Balint Groups for future participants, an overview of groups for practicing physicians, resident, or students, a description of the Balint Group leader roles and functions, ground rules for a Balint Group, and a comparison of Balint Groups with personal and professional development groups. Included is a 44-reference bibliography.
• Balint Group Essentials and Desirable Characteristics This Web page lists the essential and desirable characteristics of a Balint Group, as approved by the Council of the British Balint Society in 1994. The desirable characteristics include items such as "The leader has psychoanalytic training." A very thought-provoking manuscript.
• Excerpts from "Balint Seminars in a Family Practice Residency," (a pdf file) by Rex Pittenger in 1980. The manuscript addresses how Balint training might address the need for a behavioral science training component in a residency program.
• Balint Versus Support Groups (a pdf file) by Geof and Kate Margo. This manuscript, slightly more than one page, addresses a recurrent topic in Balint Group training.
• Some Random Thoughts about Balint Group Pitfalls, Pratfalls, and Pot Holes (a pdf file)by Laurel Milberg. This 4-page article raises common and deadly problems that can derail Balint Groups, either in how they are organized or how they are run.

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For comments about the Web site, please contact the webmaker.This page last updated July 23, 2008