Gearing balint group leadership to resident professional development.

This paper discusses the sequential phases of typical Balint training groups. The cases presented reflect the presenters' professional developmental time line and serve the participants' developmental needs: exploring professional boundaries and intragroup intimacy. The activities and issues arising in the meetings stem from these developmental needs and help the group members acquire specific skills. Knowing where the group members are in their professional development should help group leaders give a seminar its focus, decide on group membership, and recognize when a group is not developing appropriately.