ABSTRACT
Genetic counseling has been defined by the American Society for Human Genetics (ASHG) (ASHG, 1975) as a communication process. However, there are distinct differences between the practice of genetic counseling and the process of counseling. Ordinarily, counseling in a general setting involves active listening by the counselor and the use of counseling interventions to enable the client to express his or her feelings. The counselor facilitates the client to discover the focus of his or her difficulty and explore ways in which it might be managed. However, in a genetic counseling setting, information is traded between client(s) and practitioner. A family tree may be taken in a purposive way and, at appropriate times in the session, information about the genetic condition and inheritance risks can be provided for the family.
