2nd Edition

How to Run Reflective Practice Groups The Heads and Hearts Model for Healthcare Professionals

By Arabella Kurtz Copyright 2026
260 Pages 1 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

260 Pages 1 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

260 Pages 1 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

In this second edition of How to Run Reflective Practice Groups: The Heads and Hearts Model for Healthcare Professionals Arabella Kurtz provides a comprehensive guide to the facilitation of reflective practice groups with the aim of demystifying reflective practice and providing structure and purpose. Responding to the rapidly increasing demand for reflective practice groups in healthcare and... Read more

 

Part One: The Heads and Hearts Model of reflective practice groups 

 

Chapter 1. Contracting and Review at the Organisational Level          

 

Chapter 2. Contracting and Review at the Group Level                                  

 

Chapter 3. Turning In                                                                                     

 

Chapter 4. Looking Back                                                                    

 

Chapter 5. Generation                                                                        

 

Chapter 6. Free Response                                                                               

 

Chapter 7. More Effortful Thinking                                                               

 

Chapter 8. Turning Out                                                                                  

 

Part Two: Process, research and adaptations                                         

 

Chapter 9. The role of the facilitator and group dynamics                          

 

Chapter 10. What can we learn from research into reflective practice groups?           

 

Chapter 11. Brief, responsive reflective practice: Adaptations of the Heads and Hearts Model 

 

Chapter 12. How to run reflective practice groups online: Adaptations of the Heads and Hearts Model              

 

Conclusion

Biography

Arabella Kurtz is a consultant clinical psychologist and psychoanalytic psychotherapist. She has worked in adult and forensic mental health services in the UK National Health Service, and in clinical psychology training and staff support. She now works in NHS staff health and well-being services and in private practice.

'If services are to develop a culture of compassionate care then reflective practice should be integral and this book provides a model for how this could be achieved.'

Tony Lavender, Emeritus Professor of Clinical Psychology, Canterbury Christ Church University, UK 

'Arabella Kurtz’s book is a rich and compelling account of why and how reflective practice in groups can and must be implemented throughout health and care. Taking time out to reflect collectively on what we are trying to achieve, how we are going about it and what we need to change can seem like an optional diversion. It is not. Reflective practice is the royal road to innovation and improving care for those we serve.'  

Michael West CBE, Senior Visiting Fellow, The King’s Fund, London. Professor of Organizational Psychology, Lancaster University, UK

'With communities of reflective practice emerging across the United Kingdom and Australia, Dr Kurtz’s updated book arrives at a pivotal time. This edition provides a detailed exploration of group dynamics and the facilitator role, as well as developments such as the post-pandemic rise of the online medium and the use of reflective practice groups as brief interventions. There is also a summary of the growing evidence pointing towards their restorative and formative benefits.'

Chris Dawber, Reflective Practice Group Consultancy. Mental Health Nurse and Psychotherapist, Queensland, Australia