Themes and Subthemes Resulting From the Analysis of the Interviews
| Themes | Subthemes |
|---|---|
| Competence in the physician-patient encounter gained in the Balint group | Naming, tracing, and handling difficult emotions |
| Knowing oneself | |
| Preparing oneself for difficult encounters | |
| Understanding mechanisms of bad encounters | |
| Viewing the patient as a whole person in a biopsychosocial coherence | |
| Understanding why patients seek health care | |
| Being proactive in consultations | |
| Professional identity as recognized in the group | Recognizing difficult encounters as a special and challenging task as a general practitioner |
| Learning the limits of one’s abilities and obligations | |
| Understanding patient-centeredness as a prerequisite of being a general practitioner | |
| Having a shared working condition, showing tolerance toward colleagues | |
| Mirroring oneself in others’ stories leading to increased understanding of the tasks of a general practitioner | |
| Sense of security developed in the group | Long relationship with the other group members |
| Weaknesses and mishaps are tolerated | |
| Permissiveness, openness, and sincerity in the group | |
| Confidentiality, frames, and firm structure | |
| Feeling of not being alone even between group meetings | |
| Long experience leads to feeling of security | |
| Parallel process: general practitioner–patient and Balint group–general practitioner | Long relationship with both patients and group |
| Learning to listen patiently to narratives of discomfort | |
| Acknowledging changes over time in both group and patients | |
| Changing one’s behavior permanently takes time | |
| Endurance and satisfaction | Having good times together, breathing space |
| Balint group enhances satisfaction with work | |
| Balint group counteracts burnout | |
| Together recognizing the good sides of work |