ROSIE TRINGHAM writes: “A warm welcome to anyone new to the South Eastern Region—and welcome back to all our continuing members. We last met in March with Frances leading the discussion.
Looking forward to connecting with those who can join us on Tuesday 19/5 1200 (contact me or Mark for the Zoom link). On this occasion Mark will look at the “Balint Group” approach, originally developed by Michael Balint for work with groups of medical doctors, exploring the emotional side of their work. It’s been used more widely, and is among the ways of exploring group pastoral supervision.
One of the parallels between pastoral supervision and what Balint was addressing with doctors is that one is undertaking a form of cross-professional supervision where the supervisees are highly experienced, but don’t necessarily have a counselling / therapy language to fall back on.
The Balint group model offers a way for supervisees to learn from each other. The usual format is that someone talks about some work they have been doing. There’s an opportunity for people in the group to ask clarifying questions. For an in-person group, the person who has presented then draws their chair back, so they are outside the circle (in some groups they also turn their chair round so they are not looking at the group) and the group then discusses what they have heard, aided by two facilitators, without the presenter speaking.
At the time boundary the person who originally presented re-joins the group and there is an opportunity to respond. On Tuesday we’ll have an opportunity to experiment with this model, and feedback immediate reflections on it.
Volunteers needed… For Tuesday, would anyone like to present some work? The ideal would be for someone in pastoral charge to present something that might otherwise be taken to pastoral supervision, but an alternative is to present something from work as a pastoral supervisor. If you’re able to offer something, could you email Mark on mark@spacetoexplore.org
Group Updates
Our SE Group now has around 90 + members across the region. Over the past year, we’ve held sessions at various times of day, Monday through Friday, to make it easier for people with different schedules to join. We’ll continue this flexible rhythm, as it’s led to a steady and varied attendance throughout the year. Please come along whenever it suits your week.
Each regional group has a budget so if you would like to arrange an external speaker do let either of us know, or talk at the next meeting.
Our meetings include both planned topics and organic discussions that evolve from the group’s interests. If there’s a particular area you’d like to explore, please raise it during a session or send an email—we’d love to hear your ideas.
Meeting dates:-
More about us: Members come from a variety of areas including Portsmouth, Cambridge, East London, West London, and many parts of the South Coast and the surrounding area.
The group has held themed discussions, carried out book discussions, reflected on the conference and holds conversations about aspects of Pastoral Supervision. Meeting together can be a part of your annual CPD.
