Genetic counselors from around the country gathered in 1 CW and online for the live stream of the annual conference sponsored by the MGH Institute’s Genetic Counseling program last Friday. First presented in 2019, this year’s conference focused on Strategies for Making a Difference. 

Attendees took part in discussions on several topics, including experiencing the value of the Balint process in a mock Balint group facilitated by School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences Assistant Dean for Faculty and Student Success Mike Boutin and Assistant Dean of Interprofessional Education Midge Hobbs, who explained about the process and how it has been integrated in programs at the MGH Institute. 

"One of the famous quotes by Michael Balint is the doctor as the drug,” Boutin explained to the audience. “It is the really critical understanding that the clinician and the relationship to the client is as impactful as many of the interventions that the client engages in.”

The rest of the program included sessions on the benefits, limitations, and utilization of sponsored genetic testing; navigating disagreements constructively; advocating for patients with disabilities; providing space for religion and spirituality within genetic counseling sessions; and how anti-fat bias manifests in genetic counseling and strategies for mitigating it.