325Parents whose 4-year-old son was diagnosed with autism.
35-year-old woman whose mother and sister died from ovarian cancer.
Next select five of the questions you generated, and write a self-disclosure
response to each one as if you were speaking to the patient(s) directly. Then write a
nondisclosure response to each of the same five questions as if you were speaking
directly to the patient(s).
Exercise 2: Indirect Self-Disclosure
Write three or four paragraphs responding to these questions:
- What do patients see when they look at you?
- What might your physical characteristics mean to different patients?
- What do you think your characteristics and actions might communicate to
patients?
Exercise 3: Self-Disclosure and Self-Involving Responses
Read each of the 14 patient statements listed in Chap. 8 , Exercise 2, and give one
self-disclosure response and one self-involving response for each statement. Write
your responses as if you were actually talking to the patient.
[Hint: You may have to infer more knowledge about the patient in order to for-
mulate your responses].
Example
For the example of the 40-year-old man at risk for Huntington disease cited in Chap.
8 , Exercise 2:
Self-disclosure: “I’d be very scared to learn that I had the gene. I wonder if that’s
how you are feeling, too?”
Self-Involving: “I’m concerned that you may be pursuing testing before you’re
ready.”
Exercise 4: Role-Play
Engage in a 30-min role-play of a genetic counseling session with a classmate. The
role-play can be based on a patient you saw in a clinic, or it can be a made-up patient
situation. During the role-play focus on all the helping skills you’ve learned so far.
Try to include at least one self-disclosure and one self-involving response.
11.5 Written Exercises