ABSTRACT
The Balint model was excellent at a time when the task was to establish general practice as a separate field of medical expertise. This chapter offers support groups which integrate elements of group analysis, Balint and action learning to restore morale in primary care and help GPs recover from change fatigue and burn-out. The space offered in such an experiential group with no limits on the agenda of discussion leads to a recovery of more structure, differentiation and sanity in the doctors’ lives. This in turn allows renewed space for the kind of work on the doctor-patient relationship done in a classic Balint group and frees a support group to give each other practical advice on how to process the effects of reform. David Casey argues that a paradigm shift is needed from a mechanical engineering model to a process model of training and development.
