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- Clarify feedback. Let the person giving you feedback know you heard what she/
he said. If you do not understand, ask for clarification. - Share your reaction. When receiving feedback, you will have both a cognitive
and an emotional reaction. Try to be aware of both and decide which aspects you
want to share with the feedback giver. - Accept positive feedback. If feedback is positive (especially when it is informa-
tion you already know), you may tend to gloss over it quickly. Perhaps you are
embarrassed, do not believe positive feedback, feel bored with the same old com-
ments, etc. Try to remember that awareness of your strengths as well as your
weaknesses is important in building strong skills. Try to think of new ways to
creatively adapt your strengths in different situations. - Accept corrective feedback. If feedback is corrective (especially when it’s infor-
mation that is new to you), you may tend to have a negative response. You may
deny it, discredit the source, feel threatened or embarrassed, etc. Try to remem-
ber that corrective feedback is not a global criticism of you as a person (or as a
genetic counselor!). Try to identify strategies for correction. You may want to ask
for specific suggestions. - Test validity of feedback. If the feedback does not fit well with your self-
perceptions, pursue it further. You can ask for clarification. You can ask others if
their perceptions are the same. While everyone’s perspective is valid in his or her
own frame of reference, it is not necessarily the absolute “truth.” Usually you
will discover the essential and useful element of feedback if you persist in
attempting to understand it. - Exercise personal responsibility. As you develop as a genetic counselor, you will
become more aware of your own strengths and limitations. It is important for you
to take responsibility for you own growth early in your development. One way to
do this is to ask for feedback about specific behaviors and issues you know are
problematic for you. It can be helpful to ask for this feedback before you are
observed. Then observers can focus on these areas as well as other aspects of
your counseling skills. - Avoid feedback overload. At times, you may feel swamped with ideas, and at
those times it’s OK to let people know you’ve had enough for one session. You
can always schedule another time to finish receiving feedback. Remember that
feedback is for your own growth. If it is coming in too fast to assimilate, it will
not help you develop your skills.
Feedback Exercise
This is an exercise that can be used with students early in a course or in a clinical
supervision relationship.
- First, ask students to think of a time in their life when they received feedback
that was particularly helpful and then to think about what made this feedback so
helpful. Next, ask them to think about a time they received feedback that was
1 Guidelines forfiBook Users: Instructors, Supervisors, andfiStudents