354
Instructor Note
- This activity could also be turned into a written exercise—either as a follow-up
to this activity or in place of the activity.
13.8 Written Exercises
Exercise 1: Irrational Beliefs
List all the irrational beliefs you have about being a genetic counselor, a supervisee,
and a professional in the genetic counseling field. Then dispute each belief by writ-
ing down a more reasonable idea.
Example
Irrational belief: “I must be very helpful with all of my patients or I am not a good
genetic counselor.” Disputing belief: “I should try to be helpful to my patients while
recognizing that some will find what I have to say more helpful than others will.”
Exercise 2: First Impressions
Go to a shopping mall or some other public place and write a description of an indi-
vidual you see there. Alternatively, you could select a photo of an individual from a
newspaper or magazine. Include the following in your description:
- Your first impressions of the person.
- Do you think you would like this person if you met them? Why or why not?
- What assumptions do you have about the person (personality, likeability, attrac-
tiveness, intelligence, education, hobbies, etc.)?
Discuss what led to your impressions and the assumptions you made about the
person you are describing. How confident are you about your impressions? In what
ways might you be wrong?
Exercise 3: Countertransference Issues
What types of patients (e.g., terminally ill, highly emotional, authoritarian, etc.) and
genetic counseling situations (e.g., sex selection, patients who refuse to reveal infor-
mation to at-risk relatives, ambiguous test results, lethal conditions) “push your
buttons” or are particularly hard for you to work with as a genetic counselor? What
makes these patients/situations so challenging? What type(s) of countertransference
reactions would you be likely have in response to these patients and situations?
12 Genetic Counseling Dynamics: Transference, Countertransference