Response to a different vantage point commentary

Biesecker, B., Austin, J., & Caleshu, C. (2017). Response to a different vantage point commentary: Psychotherapeutic genetic counseling, is it? Journal of Genetic Counseling, 26(2), 334-336. DOI: 10.1007/s10897-016-0025-z

Whether genetic counseling is a form of psychotherapy is open for debate. Early practicioners in genetic counseling described it as such, and this claim has been replicated in recent publications. This commentary is a rebuttal to the claim that genetic counseling is distinct from psychotherapty. We argue that it is a a form of psychoterapy that aims to help clients manage a health threat that affects their psychological wellbeing, paralleling the goals of psychotherapy.