Michael Balint
Michael Balint (1896–1970) was a Renaissance man whose interests and training included physics, art, neurology, medicine and psychoanalysis. Trained in Hungary as a physician and psychoanalyst, Balint emigrated from Hungary to Britain where he eventually worked at the Tavistock Clinic in London, alongside of other object relations theorists and therapists including Winnicott, Bion, Bowlby and Klein. In addition to his work as a psychoanalyst, Balint developed a method of training primary care physicians to be more empathic with their patients through what have come to be known as “Balint groups.” Over 50% of family medicine training programs in the United States use Balint groups in training second and third year residents. Balint groups are also used in most European countries, as well as Australia, in their physician training programs. My interest is in bringing Balint groups to the training of psychologists and other mental health practitioners.

You can follow the links below to pages that contain articles I’ve publish about Michael Balint, biographical information about Michael and Enid Balint, information about Balint groups, and Internet resources about Balint groups in the United States and around the world.



The Function of Balint's Levels of Mind in Balint Groups
I published an article in the Journal of the Balint Society entitled The Function of Balint's Levels of Mind in Balint Groups in 2008. This article links Balint’s object relations based theory of the mind with the functioning of Balint groups. Today many people, particularly physicians, who receive training in Balint groups, value their experiences, but are not provided with the theoretical foundation of Balint’s work. In fact, theoretical discussions in Balint groups are discouraged as the entire focus of the group is on the provider-patient relationship, particularly the affective components of that relationship. The purpose of this article is to provide the connection between Balint’s theory and the Balint group experience for those who wish to learn more about Balint’s work.



Understanding Michael and Enid Balint
This section is under construction and will be completed in January 2010.




Balint Groups and How They Work
This section is under construction and will be completed in January 2010.



Internet Resources for Balint Groups
This section of the website provides Internet resources for those interested in learning about or receiving training in conducting Balint Groups.





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