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Example Pt: “I’m glad we went ahead with the prenatal testing. I can’t wait to tell
my husband the good news! We were so worried about our baby having muscular
dystrophy.”
Round 1:
Co: The test gave you the news you wanted to hear. (Concise Own Words response—
content without labeling feelings).
Round 2:
Co: “You feel very relieved because of this good news and you’re excited to share
it.” (Content and Affective response).
Estimated time: 20–30 min.
Instructor Note
- For each round, the instructor should reinforce good responses. If a student’s
response is way off base or is too verbatim (mimicking) the patient’s state-
ment, ask the group, “Does anyone else have some other ideas about how to
respond?
Activity 6: Primary Empathy Skills (Small Group Role-Play)
Form small groups (four to five students). In each small group, the instructor pretends
to be a genetic counseling patient. The patient begins by talking about why she/he
came for genetic counseling. Next, one of the small group members, Student A,
counsels the patient for two or three interchanges in which Student A uses primary
empathy responses. Then the next student, Student B, becomes the counselor and
continues to counsel the patient for two or three responses. The process continues
until each student has had the opportunity to be the counselor for this patient. Halfway
through the process, the group should stop and discuss what they know about the
patient so far, what else they may need to cover via primary empathy, etc. This dis-
cussion can also be done whenever a student gets stuck while in the counselor role.
Estimated time: 30–40 min.
Instructor Note
- This exercise helps students practice conveying empathy to patients. The discus-
sion midway through the role-play helps them draw upon/strengthen their
empathic understanding.
Activity 7: Triad Role-Play
Three students practice primary empathy and attending skills in 15 min role-plays
taking turns as counselor, patient, and observer. They spend 10 min for feedback
after each role-play. The observer should stop the counselor if the counselor appears
to be stuck.
4 Listening to Patients: Primary Empathy Skills