Celebrating our female founder on International Women’s Day

Published in Blog by TR on 6 March 2026

Enid Balint was a leading figure in British psychoanalysis before and after the second world war and a co-founder of Tavistock Relationships.

Enid Balint’s early life and path into psychoanalysis

Born in 1903, she graduated in economics from the London School of Economics, specialising in public administration. During and after the second world war, Enid was active in helping families who had lost their homes during the bombing and was involved in the organisation and administration of the Family Welfare Association and Citizens' Advice Bureau.

Founding Tavistock Relationships and shaping modern training

Inspired by her experience working with dislocated families, she took the decision to further her education, studying psychoanalysis with leading psychoanalyst John Rickman. In 1948, she co-founded the Family Discussion Bureau which is now known as Tavistock Relationships. At this time the key purpose of the organisation was to train social workers needed for family counselling.

Enid remained in charge of training and research at Tavistock Relationships until 1965 and she went on to influence the conversation around patient support. In 1968 she gave an influential lecture, which was later published as The Possibilities of Patient-Centered Medicine. She believed that a patient-centred approach could transform healthcare by shifting focus from solely treating diseases to treating the whole person, enhancing patient experience, improving health outcomes, and fostering better communication.

Between 1970 and 1974 she directed the British Psychoanalytical Society, now the Institute of Psychoanaysis. A volume of her papers, Before I was I: Psychoanalysis and the Imagination, was published in 1993.

Enid Balint’s lasting legacy in relationship psychotherapy

Enid Balint died in 1994 but her approach continues to influence the work of Tavistock Relationships. TR currently provides training for individual psychotherapists to advanced levels, including psychosexual therapy, as well as supporting practitioners in the NHS, local authorities and charities to work with couples and families. In addition, Tavistock Relationships offers couple therapy with qualified therapists as well as with its students who are nearing the completion of their training.

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