Cultural Competence

• Continue to learn about organized religions and other sources of meaning and hope.

• Explore rituals and beliefs on fetal and neonatal loss, grief and mourning in different religions and cultures.

• Be aware that personal feelings on religion and spirituality can help a counselor gain clarity and insight. On the other hand, these feelings can blind a counselor from appreciating clients’ perspectives, beliefs, and practices.

• Review, adapt and use religious and spiritual assessment tools to determine the role of these factors in clients’ worldviews on health, illness, and decision making.

• Be client-centered. Get engaged with clients who explicitly or implicitly indicate the importance of religion or spirituality. This is an opportunity to learn!

• If you freeze and don’t know what to say, take a minute to recover. Use silence and maintain open, interested body language. Let the client take the next step.

• If you avoid or ignore religion/spirituality in genetic counseling sessions, refer clients to a colleague. Define a plan for increasing your confidence and competency.

• Use your institutional and local resources. Hospital chaplains and local religious leaders should be integral members of the genetics services team. Proactively engage these clergy in providing patient-specific support and pastoral counseling. Collaborate with and refer clients to indigenous healers when appropriate (Fukuyama, 2002).

• Participate in peer supervision discussions to explore your thoughts and feelings about religion and spirituality in genetic counseling sessions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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