Background of the subject matter

The Balint society in Moscow was founded on July 27 of 2017, and it was accepted into the IBF in 2018.

In the past three years, many international Balint conferences have been organized and conducted under the auspices of PPL Russia.

The “Emotional burnout and the Balint movement in helping professions” conference in 2015, the «Preserving and improving the health and well-being of specialists in helping professions. The role and place of the Balint movement in this» conference in 2016 in Yerevan, Armenia.

The 3rd international Balint conference “Psychological medicine and Balint groups – cooperation theory and practice” was conducted on July 13-16 of 2017. 2 big and 5 small Balint groups were conducted during the conference. They were led by famous specialists: Dr. G. Flatten, Dr. E. Elder, Dr. D. Watt, prof. V.A. Vinokur, Dr. N. Gunzel. A group for future Balint group supervisors were conducted as well, led by Dr. F. Ludwig-Ekkelman and Dr. K. Fritzsche.

The 4th International scientific-practical Balint conference (The first online International Balint conference) «New capabilities of the Balint group. Coronainnovations» was conducted within the framework of the 9th Psychotherapy congress “Psychotherapy in helping citizens, families, collectives, and the society affected by the pandemic caused by the coronavirus” on June 24-25 of 2020. Due to the pandemic, the organizers decided to invite outstanding specialists in psychology to make reports on a relevant topic.

5 small Balint groups were led by famous specialists: Dr. G. Flatten, Dr. C. Spencer-Palmer, Dr. D. Watt, Dr. R. Sapic, Dr. N. Gunzel. A big Balint group (sculpture) was also added to the conference schedule. It was led by Avagimyan A.A. and Leiko E.V. A round table “Preadaptation of helping professions specialists in conditions of the pandemic. “Coronainnovations”: Online Balint groups – challenge of time.”

The conference was attended by 70 specialists from Russia (Vladivostok, Novosibirsk, Kogalym, Moscow, Saint-Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Vologda), Armenia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Germany, United Kingdom, Serbia.

The conference was assessed positively by the international and Russian psychological communities and received the “Golden psyche” award.

The event was favorably evaluated by the international and Russian psychological community, and Russian Balint Society became the winner of the “Golden Psyche” competition.

In 2021, an author’s certificate was obtained for a program for training managers of Balint groups.

In 2022, an author’s certificate was obtained for a program for training supervisors of Balint group leaders.

Since 2016, 85 specialists have been certified as BG leaders. Today, graduates of these programs work in various cities and countries in the post-Soviet space – in Kazakhstan, Armenia, Nizhny Novgorod, Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Over the past years, we have studied the influence of Balint groups on the prevention of professional burnout of specialists in helping professions, and conducted researches.

The project “Balint groups in Psychiatry” has been carried out for seven years. We conducted Balint groups in 2015-2016 with nurses and senior nurses on the basis of the Psychiatric Clinical Hospital No. 3. In total, about three hundred specialists were involved in the study.

Since 2017, we have been conducting Balint groups with psychiatrists, department heads, medical psychologists, senior nurses and nurses on the basis of the Psychiatric Clinical Hospital No. 1 after Alexeev. This project is under the patronage of the chief physician of the Psychiatric Clinical Hospital No. 1 and the chief psychiatrist of Moscow, Professor George Petrovich Kostyuk.

In 2018-2021, a program was tested to conduct Balint groups with residents of 1 and 2 years of study and train them to be leaders of Balint groups. For the first time in the post-Soviet space, the residency offers additional training for leadership of Balint groups and together with the diploma of a psychiatrist, our residents receive a certificate of the head of Balint groups.

Improving our qualifications, we have held seminars, participated in congresses abroad, in the Russian Federation, throughout the post-Soviet space. Participated in the International Balint Congresses: in Heidelberg (2013), Metz (2015), Oxford (2017), Porto (2019).

The work started by the creation of the Moscow Balint Society was continued, and on July 5, 2021, the All-Russian Public Organization of Doctors, Psychologists, Medical and Social Workers, the Russian Balint Society, was registered with the Ministry of Justice.

According to the law on public organizations of the Russian Federation, it is necessary to have branches in 43 constituent entities of the Federation to register an All-Russian organization. We did it. The Society has branches in 44 subjects of the Russian Federation, from Kaliningrad to Far Vladivostok, from Ulan-Ude (Republic of Buryatia) to Grozny (Chechnya), in St. Petersburg and in Moscow.

Now the accreditation of certified leaders of the RBS’ BGs is being carried out. Based on it, a register of the RBS’ certified BG leaders will be compiled.