Genetic Counselors’ Personal Reactions and the Ethical Implications for Genetic Counseling Practice

Genetic counseling practice is a dynamic process in which genetic counselors’ knowledge, skills (e.g., communication), and individual and cultural characteristics (e.g., empathy) interact with those of their patients. Genetic counselors must strive to develop and maintain an accurate awareness of their unique set of characteristics and the potential impact on genetic counseling processes and outcomes. Self-reflective practice in this chapter is fundamental in supporting many aspects of genetic counseling practice and counselor competencies, including common genetic counselor reactions of countertransference, moral distress, and compassion fatigue. This chapter describes these interrelated genetic counselor dynamics in the context of theory and research and offers suggestions of strategies for recognizing and managing these types of dynamics. The strategies are intended to help genetic counselors maintain a standard of patient care as well as their own professional vitality and efficacy.