Synonyms
Definition
“Genetic counseling is the process of helping people understand and adapt to the medical, psychological and familial implications of genetic contributions to disease. This process integrates the following:
Interpretation of family and medical histories to assess the chance of disease occurrence or recurrence.
Education about inheritance, testing, management, prevention, resources and research.
Counseling to promote informed choices and adaptation to the risk or condition” (Resta et al., 2006, p. 77).
This definition of genetic counseling was adopted by the National Society of Genetic Counselors in 2006, and it remains the standing definition of the service. The definition expresses the basic nature of the service which is grounded in the science of genetics as well as related sciences and the importance of competence in psychosocial counseling skills on the part of the practitioner. Genetic counseling as a formal, free-standing health-care...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References and Readings
Fine, B. A., Baker, D. L., Fiddler, M. B., & ABGC Consensus Development Consortium (1996). Practice-based competencies for accreditation of and training in graduate programs in genetic counseling. Journal of Genetic Counseling, 5, 113–121.
Hampel, H., Grubs, R. E., Walton, C. S., Nguyen, E., Breidenback, D. H., Nettles, S. The American Board of Genetic Counseling 2008 Practice Analysis Advisory Committee including Callanan, N., Corliss, M., Fox, S., Hiraki, S., Ku, L., Neufeld-Kaiser, W., Riley, B., Taylor, J., & Weik, L. (2009). Genetic counseling practice analysis. Journal of Genetic Counseling, 18, 205–216.
McCarthy Veach, P., Bartels, D. M., & LeRoy, B. S. (2007). Coming full circle: A reciprocal-engagement model of genetic counseling practice. Journal of Genetic Counseling, 16, 713–728.
National Society of Genetic Counselors. (www.nsgc.org). Accesed 2011.
Resta, R., Bowles Biesecker, B., Bennett, R. L., Blum, S., Estabrooks Hahn, S., Strecker, M. N., et al. (2006). A new definition of genetic counseling: national society of genetic counselors’ task force report. Journal of Genetic Counseling, 15, 77–83.
Stern, A. M. (2009). A quiet revolution: The birth of the genetic counselor at Sarah Lawrence College, 1969. Journal of Genetic Counseling, 18, 1–11.
Transnational Alliance for Genetic Counseling. http://tagc.med.sc.edu/index.asp. Accesed 2011.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media, New York
About this entry
Cite this entry
LeRoy, B.S. (2013). Genetic Counseling. In: Gellman, M.D., Turner, J.R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1005-9_1687
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1005-9_1687
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-1004-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-1005-9
eBook Packages: MedicineReference Module Medicine