Abstract
The concept of Balint groups, as developed by M. Balint, has been described and further conceptualised for its currently widespread use in clinical and non-medical education, as well as during supervision. Given the multicultural and multiracial reality in Western societies, one would expect aspects of diversity to permeate the Balint method of supervising the physician or therapist–patient relationship. Until now, however, there has been a lack of relevant research dealing with the cultural dimension in Balint groups, a shortcoming which this paper seeks to address by highlighting relevant unconscious issues on individual characteristics, group dynamics and group leadership that may lead to inherent difficulties within Balint work with intercultural groups. Balint group sessions are proposed as being a container for cultural questions and should thus be adapted towards the role of the group leader in order to create an atmosphere of cultural awareness.
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Notes
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IX. Congress of the Turkish-German Association for Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosocial Health, Hamburg 2016.
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Haude, V. (2020). Intercultural Balint Work. In: Schouler-Ocak, M., Kastrup, M. (eds) Intercultural Psychotherapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24082-0_11
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