98
- “Everybody feels (or would feel) that way.” A remark like this can trivialize the
patient’s experience. - “Nobody feels (or would feel) that way.” This is another judgmental response
suggesting patients are wrong to feel the way they do. - “Why do you feel that way?” “Why” implies judgment and suggests the patient’s
feeling is not appropriate.
5.4 Closing Comments
Rogers ( 1992 ) said empathy and other essential therapist qualities are “qualities of
experience, not intellectual information. If they are to be acquired, they must, in my
opinion, be acquired through experiential training...” (p. 831). We agree with
Rogers that your empathy will increase as you gain experience—lots of it! Moreover,
experiences in your professional and personal lives will intertwine to build your
empathy skills (Miranda et al. 2016 ; Wells et al. 2016 ; Zahm et al. 2016 ). As you see
more genetic counseling patients, you will grow in your capacity to understand
them. You may also be able to speed-up the process by experimenting, trying differ-
ent approaches, and discussing the outcomes with your clinical supervisors. Very
importantly, reflecting upon your experiences and their meaning for your work as a
genetic counselor will help you deepen your empathic understanding and commu-
nication. You will increasingly appreciate the diverse responses of patients, recog-
nize subtle differences in emotional responses due to individual and cultural
circumstances, and counsel each patient according to his or her specific situation.
4.11 Class Activities
Activity 1: Primary Empathy (Think-Pair-Share Dyads)
Students respond individually in writing to three questions:
- What is empathy?
- Where does empathy come from?
- What functions does empathy serve in genetic counseling?
Next, pairs of students discuss their written responses.
Estimated time: 10–15 min.Process
Dyads report on their discussion. Instructor summarizes major themes and presents
any ideas which did not emerge from the dyads.
Estimated time: 10–15 min.
4 Listening to Patients: Primary Empathy Skills