Balint Leadership Training Intensive

Training leaders in relationship centered care.™

Join us in Wellesley, MA
November 12 - 15, 2026

Sponsored by:

Early Registration Deadline: July 31, 2026

Registration Deadline: September 15, 2026

Course Overview

The four-day Intensive course is designed to teach Balint group leadership technique primarily through experiential groups, supplemented by topic-focused small discussion groups and faculty panel discussions. Attendees will have ample time to present cases, practice leading a Balint group, and engage informally with other participants. Faculty-guided debriefings provide opportunities to receive feedback on participants’ practice sessions in a safe and supportive setting. Participants emerge from the course with a deeper understanding of Balint group leadership techniques and responsibilities and improved awareness of the method’s limitations and risks.

The high faculty:participant ratio makes this course well-suited to meet the needs of those new to Balint group leadership as well as those who have experience and wish to hone their skills. Each Intensive course is unique, reflecting the diversity of the faculty, attendees, and the cases offered. 

Tentative Schedule 

Registration Fees

Space is limited and previous Leadership Intensive courses have filled well before the registration deadline. Registration fee includes syllabus, refreshment breaks, one dinner and one lunch.

Single Registration:
    $900 by July 31, 2026; $975 regular rate

ABS Member Registration:
    $800 by July 31, 2026; $875 regular rate

Residents, students, fellows receive a 20% discount:
    $640 by July 31, 2026; $700 regular rate

ABS Member Residents, students & fellows:
    $560 by July 31, 2026; $620 regular rate

Those registering at the non-member rate will have an option to apply for a one-year complimentary membership to the ABS following the conference. Current members of other countries' Balint societies also qualify for a registration discount. They should contact Eran Metzger by email prior to registering. If you have any issues with the registration process, contact Shantel Beckers.

Register Now 

Scholarships Available

The American Balint Society (ABS) seeks to increase inclusivity in its educational activities and among its membership. To support this goal, ABS has two scholarship programs available to applicants of underrepresented groups (e.g. ethnic, socioeconomic, professional background, etc.) for whom the regular course tuition would present a hardship or barrier. 1) The ABS Scholarship program provides full tuition support for up to two individuals who have been accepted into an ABS Leadership Training Intensive course. 2)The Jerome and Maureen Lebowitz Scholarship provides reimbursement of course registration for nurse practitioners and family medicine or surgery residents. You must complete the registration process prior to submitting one of the financial aid applications.

Please note that the deadline for financial aid applications is July 31, 2026. (Note: buttons below will download the application.)

ABS Intensive Financial Aid Application

Jerome and Maureen Lebowitz Scholarship Application

Cancellation Policy

Registrants wishing to cancel their registration must do so in writing by the cancellation deadline of September 15, 2026. For cancellations received by the cancelation date, $100 of the registration fee will be withheld for administrative fees and the refund will occur within 30 days of acknowledgment of cancellation. For cancellations received after the deadline, no refunds will be available.  

Balint Groups

Balint groups provide an opportunity to develop insight into the interpersonal aspects of the clinician/patient encounter and to become more empathic with patients and with oneself. They are used by health care clinicians throughout the United States and internationally to improve clinician/patient communication and clinical effectiveness, increase practitioner satisfaction, and decrease isolation. Residencies and other training programs use Balint groups as part of their curriculum addressing professionalism, clinician/patient communication, and clinical ethics.

Target Audience

The New England Leadership Intensive course is appropriate for clinicians new to the Balint Group method as well as experienced Balint Group leaders. The course is well-suited to those who are currently leading, expect to lead in the future, or are seeking a better understanding of Balint groups.  The curriculum is appropriate for physicians (primary care, psychiatry, other specialists), allied health professionals, psychologists, social workers, other mental health care providers, veterinarians, and pastoral care providers.

Welcome to New England!

The conference will be held at the Babson Executive Conference Center at Babson College, 20 minutes from downtown Boston and Logan International Airport. 

Hotel Information

The ABS has negotiated a conference rate of $239 per night which includes full breakfast and access to the state of the art Len Green Recreation and Athletics Complex (LGRAC) on campus.  In addition, there are scenic walking trails and an indoor skating rink on the Babson campus.  

In reserving your room with the following link, you're getting the best possible rate and helping us fulfill our contractual obligation with the hotel. 

Reservations can be made via the link below or by calling reservations at (877) 756-2121 and reference booking code 2511AMERIC.

Conference rate available Nov 11- 15, 2026. Rooms must be booked by October 10, 2026.

Requirements

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

Because group cohesiveness affects participants’ experience of the course, registrants are required to commit to attending all sessions and to attending each session in its entirety. Please do not plan to arrive late, leave early or miss sessions.

The Balint Leadership Intensive is a training course and is not intended as therapy. Nevertheless, 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 this training at a later date.

Notes

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

During this Balint Leadership Training Intensive, a few experienced participants may be co-leading small group sessions as part of an evaluation process by which they hope to become credentialed as Balint group leaders. If this occurs, we may ask all members of their small group to complete an assessment of the candidate's expertise during one of the two sessions in which he or she is acting as co-leader. We believe this process furthers your learning of Balint leadership skills in addition to offering the candidate helpful feedback. 

Conference Directors

Karen Carlson, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine
Harvard Medical School
Boston, MA

Eran Metzger, MD
Director of Psychiatry, Hebrew Senior Life
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Boston, MA

Laurel Milberg, PhD
Clinical Associate Professor of Family Medicine, Retired
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Leeds, MA

Additional Faculty 

Olivia Liff, MD, CMD
Geriatric Specialist
Hebrew Senior Life
Boston, MA

Tamatha Psenka, MD
Assistant Professor, Department of Family Medicine
Medical University of South Carolina
Charleston, SC

Kathleen Ulman, PhD
Assistant Professor, Psychiatry 
Harvard Medical School
Boston, MA

All faculty members are credentialed as Balint Group Leaders by the American Balint Society. Faculty present will depend on number of small groups.

In accordance with ACCME requirements on disclosure, information about relationships of presenters with commercial interests (if any) will be included in materials distributed at the time of the conference.

Course Goals

At the end of the training, attendees will be able to:

1. Describe verbal and non-verbal behaviors of Balint Group Leaders.
2. Recognize the effectiveness of different leadership interventions.
3. Identify the process and progression of a Balint group over multiple sessions.
4. Define the new perspective of a presenter as a result of the Balint group process.

Note: a complete list of learning objectives is available on request.

Grievance Policy

Any concerns should be brought to the attention of Eran Metzger.
ABS Grievance Policy

Continuing Education

Application for CME credit has been filed with the American Academy of Family Physicians. Determination of credit is pending.

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.

This program is Approved by the National Association of Social Workers (Approval # 886826093-7562) for 17 continuing education contact hours.

This program is approved by the American Association of Veterinary State Boards for 19.25 credits.