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

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• How much welcoming should you do? Should you engage in chitchat?


• Should you go to the waiting room to get your patient? Will you escort your
  patient to the exit at the end of the session?


• How much structure should you give your patients about the genetic counseling
  process? How much detail would you provide? What would you say?


• Should you provide follow-up, and, if so, how?


• Should you engage in social conversation (chitchat) at the end of the session?
  Why or why not?

Process
The whole group discusses their responses to these questions
Estimated time: 30 min.

Activity 2: Initiating the Session Model

Instructor and a volunteer genetic counseling patient engage in a role-play in which
the counselor demonstrates how to initiate the genetic counseling session. Students
observe and take notes of counselor initiating behaviors.
Estimated time: 10 min.

Process
Students discuss their examples of counselor initiating behaviors. They also discuss
the effect these genetic counselor behaviors appeared to have on the patient.
Estimated time: 10 min.

Activity 3: Initiating the Session (Triad Role-Plays)

Students practice initiating genetic counseling sessions using the three role-plays
described below. The patient selects one of the following roles without letting the
counselor know about the role in advance. They should spend about 5–10 min doing
each role-play and about 10 min after each role-play to provide feedback. Have the
patient read the patient role to the triad after discussion of the role-play.

Patient Roles

1. You are here to see a genetic counselor because you are at risk for Huntington
   disease. You are worried that potential employers will find out you have the gene.
   You also worry about how you will react if you find out you have the gene. You
   feel, at some level, that suicide might not be out of the question.


2. You were scheduled to see the genetic counselor as part of your work-up for
   recently diagnosed breast cancer. You have had some very bad experiences with
   health-care professionals in the past and feel as if you have been railroaded into
   coming for genetic counseling. You question what the genetic counselor sitting

6.7 Class Activities