In the role-play video that you watched, comment on the:
1. The attending skills that the genetic counselor employed. Identify the skills that you saw and explain how these contribute to the overall counseling session.
The genetic counselor observed a balance of information collection, information delivery, and meeting the patient’s emotional needs. The genetic counselor created a formal yet relaxed atmosphere for the interview. She maintained eye contact with the patient throughout the session. She observed and responded accordingly to the client’s nonverbal behaviors and was able to point out to the patient that she seemed “anxious” to which the patient agreed. I observed that the genetic counselor was able to get in sync with the patient and communicate to her that she means what she is saying, focusing on the patient’s facial expressions and reactions to her statements. Because of these skills, the patient was able to feel comfortable with the genetic counselor and was able to easily accept and agree with the genetic counselor’s suggestions.
2. The primary empathy skills that the genetic counselor employed. Identify the empathy responses of the counselor and explain how these contributed to further elucidating the thoughts and emotions of the client.
The genetic counselor applied encouragers in her statements, prompting the patient to explore her feelings and share more information regarding her anxiety about her family’s history of breast cancer. After listening intently to the patient, the genetic counselor was able to reflect back the essence of what was said and integrate this information to highlight to the patient the overall “heart of the matter”, which is her obvious fear and anxiety about her perceived risk of developing breast cancer herself. The genetic counselor was able to communicate to the patient her understanding of how such emotions and thoughts might exist, given her family history, and at the same time, she was able to reassure the patient and instill some realistic hope about a possible decreased risk for the condition based on available scientific evidence and data.
3. The effectiveness of the questions the genetic counselor asked.
The genetic counselor made use of a combination of open-ended and close-ended questions in the counseling session which were formulated in a way that kept the conversation flowing and did not feel forced. The counseling session was amazing to witness because it never seemed like an interview, to me it was like a simple conversation about someone’s family history. The genetic counselor’s tone was warm and her questions were never intrusive which facilitated the ease of eliciting necessary information. The genetic counselor never forgot to thank the patient for offering up and sharing information in the interview which I think helped a lot in encouraging the patient to open up to her.