Balint Groups: Training or Treatment?

Abstract

Michael Balint's views about the personality changes required of a doctor during the acquisition of psychotherapeutic skill are discussed as having important implications for training programs both in patient-oriented medicine and in the more formal procedures where psychotherapeutic work is involved. The evolution of Balint's training approach for general practitioners can be traced from the Hungarian psychoanalytic supervisory method; its further adaptation could greatly enhance the training process. While critical attention is drawn to the practice of rigidly conceptualizing “training” as an entity distinct from “treatment,” it must be stressed that the internal changes which the acquisition of skills requires must take place in the area of what can be termed the “professional ego.”