Front-Line Medical Staff Experience About the Novel Psychological Intervention of Brief and Online Balint Group: A Qualitative Study in Iran During the COVID-19 Outbreak

During coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, frontline medical staff were exposed to numerous psychological problems due to unpredictable conditions. A psychological intervention for medical staff is the provision of a group where emotions and feelings are shared.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the experiences of front-line medical staff about virtual Balint group.

Eight sessions of virtual Balint group were held through Skype. Participants were the frontline medical staff involved in the treatment of COVID-19 patients. The group leader was a psychiatrist and an analytical psychotherapist. The group had two coleaders, a clinical psychologist and a psychiatrist. They were both experienced conductors who had a background of participation in Balint groups. Finally, eight in-depth semi-structured interviews were performed. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was carried out to analyze the obtained data.

Three themes were extracted, including the effects of Balint group, Balint group structure, and virtuality of Balint group. Each theme included several categories, and each category had some codes.

Leaders in the Balint group were active and had a supportive role. Some participants did not share their faces, and this made others feel insecure. Body language is an important issue in empathy and understanding of others that is overlooked in virtual Balint groups.