As a Washington State-approved supervisor, I provide consultation to psychotherapists.  I'm especially interested in working with analytic and psychodynamic thinkers, as well as those interested in incorporating mindful experience into their work with patients.  I am willing to provide a one-time consultation or ongoing support.

 

Through my experience as a certified Balint Group Leader for case consultation groups, I have learned to help clinicians explore their dilemmas with patients, leading to increased empathy and improved treatment outcomes.  ​

 

About Balint work: Balint case consultation was developed to help primary care physicians understand and work through challenging aspects of their clinical relationships with patients, helping them to “unstick” aspects of their care through a more profound understanding of the patient-provider relationship. Balint groups have a broad application to all clinical settings, including ongoing psychotherapeutic work.

​

Balint group work builds community and support for our professional selves as clinicians and is neither aimed at providing clinical supervision nor imparting technical treatment advice. Instead, the group works together to offer the case presenter speculations and reflections about the relationship between the clinician and the patient. This enhances the clinician's capacity for empathy and opens their mind to new ways of understanding and responding to their patients.

​​

By gently and non-intrusively exploring the relational dynamics (transference and countertransference dynamics) in down-to-earth, experience-near ways, Balint groups help cultivate a clinician’s imaginative comprehension of the patient's whole experience, which in turn expands their creative options for engaging in the treatment relationship.

​

Celebrating collective wisdom: Balint Group starting Fall 2025

 

Balint Group for case presentation: Supporting clinicians in reconnecting with their passion for their work, preventing burnout, and increasing positive outcomes for patients.

​

Attention clinicians: Psychotherapists, Psychologists, Counselors, Social Workers, MDs, Nurses, Psychoanalysts, MD-psychotherapists

​

Kathy Knowton, PhD, Trevor Slocum, MA, and Kris Wheeler, MA, all credentialed Balint Group leaders with the American Balint Society, will offer a Balint Group this autumn. The group is online via Zoom, so any clinician who can align with the dates and times is welcome.

​

Kathy Knowlton, PhD, credentialed Supervisor with the American Balint Society, has led these case consultation groups for trainees and practitioners in many branches of health care for the last 30 years. She serves as faculty in leader trainings of the Balint Society and has local groups with Childrens' Hospital and several departments of the University of Washington. 

 

Trevor Slocum, MA, credentialed Balint group leader with the American Balint Society, and has lead Balint groups since the pandemic, mainly for psychotherapists but also for collaborative divorce attorneys. He has been faculty for a Balint Group Leadership Intensive, and has been in private psychoanalytic psychotherapy practice for 20 years, currently in North Seattle.

 

Kris Wheeler, MA, credentialed supervisor with the American Balint Society, maintains a private practice in NE Seattle.  She has been a teacher of psychoanalytic psychotherapy for 30+ years and currently teaches through Center for Object Relations as well as with the American Balint Society.  She and Kathy have been co-leading case consultation groups for over a decade. 

​

This consultation group is facilitated to focus attention on felt experience as we imagine what it is like to be the patient and the practitioner in their treatment relationship.  The orientation of this approach is a unique way to discover and explore transference and countertransference, without ever explicitly mentioning those words.  Finding the language of empathy for both parties engaged in the therapeutic endeavor, rather than offering treatment strategy, respects the presenting practitioner's clinical acumen and supports deepening of the treatment.  This focus requires discipline and exercising this discipline cultivates emotional intelligence and involvement in the healing relationships of all participants.

 

The three leaders will rotate facilitation throughout the series of groups, allowing one leader the possibility of having a voice in the reflective aspects of the group process.

​

We are forming a group of participants who are active clinical providers and able to present cases from their ongoing work. This series of Balint groups will meet on Mondays at 7 - 8:30 pm Pacific time. The suggested cost is $250 USD.

​​​​​​

Group: This group will comprise active clinicians able to present cases and 3 Balint group leaders.

​

Where: We will meet virtually via Zoom. Details will be provided to registrants.

​

When: We will meet approximately every other week on Mondays, 7:00 - 8:30 pm Pacific time.

​

The 2025 dates: 9/22, 9/29,  10/13, 10/27,  11/10, 11/24,  12/15

 

Fee: The fee is $250 USD.

 

If you'd like to join us, let us know, or be in touch if you have any questions at all.
 

Kathy Knowlton, tryekk@aol.com

Trevor Slocum, trevor@slocumcounseling.com

Kris Wheeler, kris@kriswheeler.com

​

​

American Balint Society Online Balint Group starting Fall 2025

​​

An online Balint Group is now forming which will meet biweekly on Mondays at 2 pm Pacific / 5 pm Eastern. The series will begin in September and run through December. Registration is limited to 8 participants to ensure everyone has an opportunity to present a case. Because group cohesiveness affects participants’ experience of the group, and a minimum number of participants are required to hold a session, registrants are asked to commit to attending all sessions. Please do not plan to arrive late, leave early or miss sessions, etc.

Leaders: 

Sandra Relyea is a Pediatric Physician Assistant, Forensic Child Abuse Examiner and Expert Witness in Port Angeles, WA. She is a credentialed Balint Leader and has co-led several in person and online Balint groups over the years. She spends most of her free time in the outdoors, reading or doing art work.

Trevor Slocum, LMHC, is a psychodynamic psychotherapist in private practice serving couples and providing long-term psychotherapy for adults. He completed the Balint Group Leadership Fellowship, is a credentialed Balint Group Leader and has led multiple online Balint groups for psychotherapists and psychiatrists.  Trevor lives in Seattle, WA, and enjoys baking, gardening, and long walks. 

Meeting Time: Initial meeting: Monday, September 15th 1:30 - 3:00 pm Pacific / 4:30 - 6:00 pm Eastern

(90-minute first group to allow for introductions and an overview of the Balint method).

Subsequent meetings will be 60 minutes: 2:00 - 3:00 pm Pacific / 5:00 - 6:00 pm Eastern.
The group is online via Zoom, so any clinician who can align with the dates and times is welcome.

 

Number of meetings and Dates: Eight (8) meetings on the following Tuesdays: September 15, September 29, October 13, October 27, November 10, November 24, December 8 and December 22.

Fee:
$200 for ABS Members
$320 for non-members
 

Register with the ABS Now - Online Balint Group

Cancellation Policy:
If canceled by the ABS or hosts due to insufficient registrants, those registered will receive their money back. Otherwise, no return of fee is possible, including in the event of registrant's partial attendance or inability to complete the sequence of sessions. 

1. Registrants must be clinically active and willing to present cases.
2. Balint work can stir strong emotions. If the registrant is at an unusually stressful period in their life, we recommend they sign up at another time.
3. Because the success of the group depends in part on cohesion, steady attendance matters. Registrants must intend to attend all sessions of the group.

Target Audience:
This series is appropriate for clinicians new to the Balint Group method as well as experienced Balint Group leaders. Suitable for those in active practice including physicians (primary care, psychiatry, other specialists), nurse practitioners, psychologists, social workers, and others. 

Accreditation:
The AAFP has reviewed Balint Group - Decreasing Isolation with Peer Consultation, and deemed it acceptable for AAFP credit. 

AMA/AAFP Equivalency: AAFP Prescribed credit is accepted by the American Medical Association as equivalent to AMA PRA Category 1 Credit toward the AMA Physician's Recognition Award. When applying for the AMA PRA, Prescribed credit earned must be reported as Prescribed, not as Category 1.

The American Balint Society is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The American Balint Society maintains responsibility for this program and its content.  ​​

 

Collaborative Divorce Attorneys and Professionals: Balint Group Starting Fall 2025
 

Balint Group for Collaborative Professionals: Co-lead by Trevor Slocum and Joanna Roth of the Family Transition Center.

 

Monthly, every third Tuesday afternoon from 12 to 1:15 pm.

Starting September 16th, 2025 through June 16th, 2026.

The cost for the series is $300; payment is needed to hold your registration.

For more info visit: Family Transition Center

To join, contact Joanna Roth by email: info@familytransitioncenter.org or by calling: 206 489-4986.

Taking Referrals?
 

I am interested in building a referral list and networking with other psychotherapists and health care providers in Seattle.  I believe a carefully thought-through referral can make the healing process come to life.  If you are interested in being on my referral list, feel free to contact me.

I am especially interested in networking with holistic health providers, including but not limited to:
 

• MDs and specialists interested in psychosomatic conditions 

• Naturopathic medical providers, NDs

• Psychotherapeutically or psychoanalytically-oriented psychiatrists and ARNPs

• Neurologists

• Nutritionists

• Traditional medicine and Acupuncturists

• Massage and yoga therapists