Our Society’s Mission:
The American Balint Society is a supportive and collaborative organization of clinician- teachers who share common values: an appreciation of the use of intellect, emotion and self-reflection in the doctor's work and the therapeutic potential of the doctor-patient relationship. These values are promoted through a group process of exploration and training called the Balint Group. The goal of the Balint Group experience is for the participants to transform uncertainty, confusion, and difficulty in the doctor-patient relationship into understanding and meaning that nurtures a more therapeutic alliance between clinician and patient.
The goals of the American Balint Society are to communicate the value of the Balint approach, promote the inclusion of Balint Group training in residency training and other educational settings, develop training for Balint Group leaders, support research on the Balint process, and nurture people who do Balint training. The American Balint Society strives to be visible and accessible to clinicians and educators who share our values.
Approved by the Council of the American Balint Society 3/13/1998
Our Society’s History
The American Balint Society was born in May 1990, formed by those medical educators convened at a Balint theme day at the annual meeting of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine in Seattle, Washington. Until that time, a number of faculty in Family Medicine programs throughout the US were leading Balint groups, autonomously, and according to their own understandings of the teachings of Michael and Enid Balint. Eighty-five interested people participated in this maiden effort, resulting in the election of officers and a governing council that were charged with the development of this organization along lines similar to the Balint Societies that existed in England and many other countries. Early leaders of the Society included Frank Dornfest, MD (Santa Rosa, CA), Clive Brock MD, Alan Johnson, PhD, and Ron Stock, MD (Charleston, SC), and Laurel Milberg, PhD, and Paul Scott, MD (Pittsburgh, PA). The newly formed group had significant advice and support from John Salinsky, MD, whose mentorship as Secretary of the International Balint Federation gave the US leaders the courage to persevere.
By 1993 The ABS was prepared to hold its first Leadership Intensive, in Wild Dunes, SC. This 4 day experiential workshop format has been refined and is now repeated twice yearly throughout the country; several hundred Balint leaders have received training in this venue. In 1999, in Sayre, PA, an initial Credentialing workshop was held to certify qualified Balint leaders; to date 44 people have achieved this designation in the American Balint Society.
As can be seen throughout this website, the ABS is a thriving, vital force in American medical education. We are proud of the quality of our leadership training and outreach activities, and invite your inquiries into our many programs.
