title: Teaching Genetic Counseling Skills: Incorporating a Genetic Counseling Adaptation Continuum Model to Address Psychosocial Complexity.
abstract: Genetic counselors are trained health care professionals who effectively integrate both psychosocial counseling and information-giving into their practice. Preparing genetic counseling students for clinical practice is a challenging task, particularly when helping them develop effective and active counseling skills. Resistance to incorporating these skills may stem from decreased confidence, fear of causing harm or a lack of clarity of psycho-social goals. The author reflects on the personal challenges experienced in teaching genetic counselling students to work with psychological and social complexity, and proposes a Genetic Counseling Adaptation Continuum model and methodology to guide students in the use of advanced counseling skills.
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical & Metabolic Genetics, The Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Avenue, Toronto, ON, M5G 1X8, Canada. andrea.shugar@sickkids.ca.|Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, 1 King's College Circle, Toronto, ON, M5S 1A8, Canada. andrea.shugar@sickkids.ca.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5238-921X
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shugar
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D004501:Education, Medical; D005817:Genetic Counseling / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans
keywords: Adaptation; Counseling; Education; Genetic counseling; Medical genetics; Psychosocial; Psychotherapy; Reciprocal engagement model; Teaching