2025 Balint in the Wilderness:

Sea Kayaking the Myriad Islands of Alaska

July 9 - 14, 2025

We are excited to invite you to experience Balint Groups integrated into a six day, five night sea kayaking adventure! The trip departs from and returns to Gustavus, Alaska, paddling to the Myriad Islands which lie on the edge of the West Chichagof-Yakobi Island Wilderness area, and within the Tongass National Forest. A protected wilderness, this area is teeming with life and where you'll likely see otters, brown bears, and bald eagles. To reduce the ecological impact in this relatively untouched wilderness, kayak tours of the Myriad Islands are limited to groups of 10, so this trip is guaranteed to provide a peaceful respite.

Registration Deadline: April 6th 

The Tour

We've contracted Spirit Walker Expeditions as your guide for this sea kayaking and camping experience. Spirit Walker has been leading expeditions in Alaska since 1987 and will be providing two experienced guides to lead our group. The cost for the six day tour is $3038 and includes:

• Boat transfer from Gustavus to the first camp (3 hour boat trip)
• High quality 2-person kayaks with all paddling and safety accessories.
• Camping equipment: 3-person tents shared by two people, sleeping bags, and inflatable mattresses that convert into chairs.
• Rain gear, rubber boots and dry bags.
• Three prepared meals for each full day and plenty of snacks. 

The trip will include paddling in a variety of conditions, among hundreds of tiny islands and channels, and in gentle ocean swell. Abundant wildlife, wilderness solitude and beautiful scenery are attractions of this location. The trip will also afford opportunities for wildlife watching, photography, and rain forest and muskeg hiking.

The adventure begins on the evening of July 8th with a pre-trip orientation in Gustavus, Alaska. Details regarding specific time and place will be provided during registration with Spirit Walker Expeditions. This will allow participants a chance to meet the guides, be outfitted with the appropriate gear and discuss some of the important safety and logistical aspects of the upcoming trip.

An optional 1-day boat tour of Glacier Bay National Park on July 8, the day prior to the kayaking expedition, will be available. The price of this tour is $278.10. The tab below contains information about the optional day tour. Reservations must be made during registration with Spirit Walker Expeditions.  

Day Tour Information

Tour Reservation Cancellation Policy

If a registrant needs to cancel their tour reservation and their spot cannot be filled by an individual from the waitlist, the following fees apply:

Cancellation before April 7, 2025: $100 cancellation fee 

Cancellation between April 7 - May 7, 2025: 50% of the trip cost

Cancellation on May 8, 2025 or later: 100% of the trip cost

If the trip is cancelled by the ABS a full refund of fees will be issued.

Comments from participants who attended the inaugural Balint in the Wilderness trip in 2023:

"Being out in the wilderness, free of distractions and doing unfamiliar things with people I didn’t know was incredibly freeing and helped us establish even stronger connections than we normally would."

"This was an exceptional experience. The wilderness setting added unique challenges and opportunities to the Balint process."

"It was incredible having wilderness as part of the Balint experience; perfect combination."

Balint Groups During the Tour

The Balint Group format gives participants the chance to learn about what gets in the way of their having more meaningful relationships with patients and clients, and to discern authentic responses that will strengthen those connections. Research validates the importance of empathic relationships with patients in providing effective healthcare and supporting what practitioners find most meaningful about their work.

The Balint Groups case-based focus on alternative formulations rather than problem solving makes it applicable to myriad situations and settings. The Balint method also provides practice in the skills of accessing intuition and empathizing with others and allows meaningful connection among practitioners of different disciplines who experience the importance of treatment alliances.

Over the six days, registrants will participate in ten 1-hour Balint Groups. 

Tentative Schedule

Balint Group Leaders

The Balint Group facilitators for this trip are ABS Credentialed Leader Sandra Relyea and UK Balint Society Credentialed Leader Mat Harrison.

Sandra has been an ABS member and Balint Group participant for 10 years and an ABS Credentialed leader for 8 years. She has been a wilderness adventurer since childhood and is a sea kayak instructor and trip leader in the Pacific Northwest and Canada.

"I love the way Balint and the wilderness are a perfect pairing of invitations to adventure into the challenges of vulnerability, flexibility, facing the partially unknown, and embracing what's possible when we join with others to create mutual safety, acceptance, respect and joyful play."

Mathew is a psychiatrist and psychoanalytic psychotherapist. He is an accredited leader with the Balint Society in the United Kingdom, where he regularly runs groups for clinicians from a variety of backgrounds. Mathew was a participant in the inaugural ABS Balint in the Wilderness event.

"I believe that Balint in the Wilderness provides a unique opportunity to nourish both mind and body. Working within a group, beyond the trappings of our day-to-day lives, over the course of several days might allow different opportunities to 'think fresh, think freely' and creatively explore the relationship between clinician and patient."

ABS Registration Fees

Space is limited to 8 registrants - as a result, all registrants must participate in Balint Groups. The fee paid to the American Balint Society includes 10 Balint Groups led by credentialed leaders, continuing education credit (see below for full details), and coordination of the trip with Spirit Walker Expeditions.

• ABS Member Registration: $250 per person
• Non-Member Registration: $325 per person (Registration opens February 16, 2025)

Register Now

Cancellation Policy - ABS Fee

Planning Your Trip

Logistics

• Registrants are responsible for arranging their own pre- and post-trip travel. Alaska Airlines flies into and out of Gustavus from Juneau, AK daily. Alaska Seaplanes is the other flight option with multiple flights a day between Juneau/Gustavus. The Alaska Marine Highway ferry has released its summer schedule and has sailings on July 7th and July 15th.
• You will need to arrive no later than July 8, 2025. There will be an orientation by our guide, Spirit Walker Expeditions, that evening. Information regarding the orientation including time and place will be provided during registration.
• July 15 is the travel day to return home.
• July is one of the drier months in Gustavus, but Southeast Alaska is a temperate rain forest where it can rain at any time. Inclement weather will not cancel the trip.
• Daylight lasts 18 hours in Gustavus in July with 5 hours of full darkness.
• If you elect to take the Glacier Bay scenic boat tour, you will need to arrive the evening of July 7th.
• It is strongly recommended that registrants purchase trip insurance.

Lodging

• Our kayaking tour guide, Spirit Walker Expeditions, has recommended that everyone stay in the same hotel immediately before and after the trip and has recommended Glacier Bay Lodge in Gustavus.
  
• The Lodge provides transport to and from the airport, there is a restaurant on site, and there are trails easily accessible from the Lodge, as well as a tribal house, whale skeleton and other history displays. This is the only hotel within the Glacier Bay National Park, and this is where the group will depart from and return for the kayaking orientation and tour.
  
• Spirit Walker Expeditions is holding 10 rooms at Glacier Bay Lodge, including a combination of Standard Rooms at $299.77 and Deluxe Rooms at $319.59.
  
• If you plan to stay at the Lodge on 7/7 (if opting for the pre-trip boat tour), 7/8 and 7/14, book your rooms and (if applicable) optional boat tour, through Spirit Walker when you register for the sea kayaking trip.
  
• Instructions on registering with Spirit Walker will be provided in a welcome letter after payment of the ABS fee.

Requirements

Participants should be clinically active and willing to present one of their cases.

Because group cohesiveness affects participants' experience of the Balint Groups, registrants are required to commit to attending all Balint Groups in their entirety. 

Prior kayaking experience is not required, however good physical health is recommended due to the wilderness nature of this event.

When going through the registration process, be sure to use an email address you check consistently so you receive all of the communication prior to the trip. 

Advance notification of any special accommodations/needs will help us provide better service. Please notify us of your needs during registration.

Notes

While Balint Group work is a centerpiece of the trip, this is not a course for leadership training. Balint Group work can sometimes stir up strong feelings. Prospective registrants who are experiencing a particularly vulnerable period in their lives may want to consider participating in a future event.

Application does not guarantee acceptance. The American Balint Society (ABS) reserves the right to choose the participants and registrants for its programs in order to maximize the educational and professional experience offered. We reserve the right to refuse registrations and to cancel registrations already made or to postpone or cancel any course due to unforeseen circumstances or insufficient enrollment. In the event of cancellation by the ABS, any registration fees paid will be refunded. Such refund shall represent the entire liability to the registrant. 

Target Audience

This post-graduate level training is designed for health care professionals who seek to develop their clinician-patient relationship skills. The curriculum is appropriate for physicians (primary care, psychiatry, other specialists), physician associates, nurse practitioners, psychologists, social workers, other mental health professionals, and other clinicians in the health care field. While appropriate for those already involved in Balint work as group members or leaders, no prior experience with the method is required. The experience is quite applicable for clinicians, residents and fellows wanting to learn more about Balint work.

Grievance Policy

Any concerns should be brought to the attention of the trip leaders, Sandra Relyea,sandrajr8@gmail.com; or Mat Harrison, mathewj.harrison@googlemail.com.
ABS Grievance Policy

Learning Objectives

At the end of the course, participants will be able to:

1. Identify aspects of challenging practitioner/client relationships.
2. Define what experiences for the practitioner can be improved through the use of a Balint Group.
3. Differentiate between reactivity and authentic responsiveness in the practitioner/patient encounter.
4. Identify language that minimizes or detracts from the individuality of the "other".
5. Formulate different options for handling challenging patient encounters.
6. Describe the usefulness of the group process for members as well as case presenters.
7. Define the relational impact of the work of identifying with a patient.
8. Contrast Balint Group work with conventional case consultation and discuss the applicability of each. 
9. Manage situations where one's usual patient interaction skills do not prompt the usual response. 

Continuing Education

The AAFP has reviewed Balint Groups and deemed it acceptable for up to 10.00 Live AAFP Prescribed credit(s). Term of Approval is from 09/27/2024 to 09/26/2025. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

AMA/AAFP Equivalency: AAFP Prescribed credit is accepted by the American Medical Association as equivalent to AMA PRA Category 1 Credit toward the AMA Physician's Recognition Award. When applying for the AMA PRA, Prescribed credit earned must be reported as Prescribed, not as Category 1.

The American Balint Society is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The American Balint Society maintains responsibility for this program and its content.