First encounters with psychotherapy: experiences from a Balint group.

Contributions from psychotherapy to psychiatry are extensively described but surprisingly few focus on trainees' early encounters with psychotherapeutic work and the value this might have in the context of psychiatric training. Our aim in this paper is to explore the experience of a Balint-style group from the perspectives of facilitator (a psychotherapist trained in social work) and a junior psychiatric trainee group member. We try to convey something of the impact of crossing boundaries between the disciplines and ways of thinking about psychiatric disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]