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Activity 3: Cliché Brainstorming (Small Groups)
Small groups of students brainstorm clichés which might be said to genetic counsel-
ing patients (e.g., time heals all wounds). This exercise could also be done in dyads
or individually. Students share their clichés with the large group and then discuss
with the instructor why people use clichés and what impact they might have on
genetic counseling patients.
Estimated time: 15–20 min.
Instructor Note
- In processing the large group discussion, ask students to think about positive
reasons (e.g., to put a person at ease) and negative reasons (e.g., when you don’t
know what to say) people use clichés and also identify possible positive effects
(might make the counselor seem more relatable) and negative effects (e.g.,
patient may feel devalued). - A variation of this activity is to interview genetic counselors and ask them to
describe the most offensive and outrageous things other people have said to their
patients about their genetic situations.
Activity 4: Domain/Intensity of Feelings (Small Groups)
As stated in the chapter, in order to be effective, an empathic response needs to be
accurate with respect to domain (positive or negative) and intensity (level of emo-
tion). Students write a 4- or 5-sentence description of a concern they might have if
they were a genetic counseling patient. They should not state any feelings about the
concern in their description. Next the instructor asks for a student volunteer to read
her/his sentences to the class matter-of-factly without conveying feelings either ver-
bally or nonverbally. Students brainstorm possible feelings. As each feeling is iden-
tified, the instructor asks whether it is positive or negative and mild, moderate, or
intense. The instructor list students’ feeling words on a blackboard or newsprint.
After the students have finished brainstorming, the instructor asks the volunteer to
select the feelings that come closest to what she would feel as this genetic counsel-
ing patient.
For example, the situation involves a positive prenatal screening test. The
student volunteer writes: “I just found out there might be something wrong with
the baby. The pregnancy has been going along so well. This is not what I
expected. What if it’s something really awful? Maybe the test is wrong.” The
student reads these sentences in a monotone voice and perhaps sits with her back
to the group in order to avoid giving any cues about her feelings. Next the group
brainstorms possible emotions and where they think the emotions would be on
the following chart:
4 Listening to Patients: Primary Empathy Skills