Sensual-imaginative training methods for students of medicine

A specific lecture course for medical students is described which elucidates the interactions of the role of initial doctor-patient and student-patient interviews in cases where psychotherapy is to be applied to the treatment of psychosomatic illnesses. The ultimate goal of this living-learning-based teaching system is to allow the student to experience and evolve a concept of the role of the doctor with respect to the patient. The teaching system is structured in the frame of Balint groups [Balint, 1975]. Emphasis is placed on describing how medical students undergo an emotional awareness training program, to enable them to function and develop their new role as a doctor with reduced fear. We report about a specific setting in Balint groups, in which mood, physical sensation and fantasy work are made into the center point of the group process.