title: Spiritual Exploration in the Prenatal Genetic Counseling Session.
abstract: Religion and spirituality (R/S) are important components of many individuals' lives, and spirituality is often employed by women coping with pregnancy complications. To characterize how prenatal genetic counselors might address spiritual issues with patients, 283 English and Spanish speaking women receiving prenatal genetic counseling in Houston, Texas were surveyed post-counseling using both the Brief RCope and questions regarding interest in spiritual exploration. Genetic counselors were concurrently surveyed to identify religious/spiritual language used within sessions and perceived importance of R/S. Genetic counselors were significantly more likely to identify R/S as important to a patient when patients used religious/spiritual language (p < 0.001). Conversely, when no religious/spiritual terms were present, the counselor felt uncertain about the importance of R/S 63 % of the time. However, 67 % of patients reported that they felt comfortable sharing their faith as it relates to their pregnancy, and 93 % reported using positive religious coping. Less than 25 % reported a desire for overt religious actions such as prayer or scripture exploration. Therefore, most patients' desires for spiritual exploration center in the decision making and coping processes that are in line with the genetic counseling scope of practice. Thus, counselors should feel empowered to incorporate spiritual exploration into their patient conversations.
authors.affiliation: Genetic Counseling Program, University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, 6431 Fannin Street, MSB 3.142, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Katelynn G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Sagaser
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Medical School at Houston, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shahrukh Hashmi
authors.affiliation: Genetic Counseling Program, University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, 6431 Fannin Street, MSB 3.142, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.|Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, University of Texas Medical School at Houston, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Rebecca D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Carter
authors.affiliation: Genetic Counseling Program, University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, 6431 Fannin Street, MSB 3.142, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.|Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Medical School at Houston, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lemons
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, University of Texas Medical School at Houston, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Hector
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mendez-Figueroa
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Salma
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nassef
authors.affiliation: Department of Chaplaincy Services, Memorial Hermann - Texas Medical Center, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Brent
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Peery
authors.affiliation: Genetic Counseling Program, University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, 6431 Fannin Street, MSB 3.142, Houston, TX, 77030, USA. claire.n.singletary@uth.tmc.edu.|Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Medical School at Houston, Houston, TX, USA. claire.n.singletary@uth.tmc.edu.|Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, University of Texas Medical School at Houston, Houston, TX, USA. claire.n.singletary@uth.tmc.edu.
authors.forename: Claire N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Singletary
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D005817:Genetic Counseling; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D012067:Religion; D029181:Spirituality; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Genetics; Prenatal genetic counseling; Religion; Religious coping; Spiritual assessment; Spirituality