Facilitating the Genetic Counseling Process Practice-Based Skills, Second Edition

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Activity 4: Triad Role-Plays

Using the patient statements in Activity 2, three students practice advanced empathy
and confrontation skills in 15–min role-plays taking turns as counselor, patient, and
observer. Allow another 10  min of feedback after each role-play. The students
should focus on using good helping behaviors.

Criteria for Evaluating Counselor Advanced Empathy and Confrontation
Well-timed
Accurate
Tentative
Language is respectful
Specific
Identifies themes, underlying issues, and/or discrepancies
Addresses content and/or feelings
Follow-up with primary empathy
Estimated time: 75 min

Process
In a large group, students discuss what they learned from the role-play.

• How was it to do this exercise?


• What are you learning about advanced empathy and confrontation in general?


• What are you learning about yourself with respect to these two skills?


• What questions do you still have about advanced empathy and confrontation?

Estimated time: 15 min.

Instructor Note

• The observer or counselor may wish to stop the role-play if the counselor is obvi-
  ously “stuck.” The triad (except for the patient) then engages in a brief conversa-
  tion about the patient’s dynamics, issues, etc., with a goal of prompting the
  counselor. Then the counselor and patient resume the role-play.

Activity 5: Conceptualizing Patients (Small Groups)^1

Instructor reads aloud the following patient description:

The patient is a 34-year-old pregnant woman. Her 4-year-old son has Duchenne Muscular

Dystrophy (DMD). She had prenatal testing for DMD for her current pregnancy and learned

that she is carrying a boy who is also affected with DMD.

(^1) Adapted from: McHenry and McHenry ( 2015 ).
8.4 Class Activities