A new definition of Genetic Counseling: National Society of Genetic Counselors' Task Force report.

TLDR: The Genetic Counseling Definition Task Force of the National Society of Genetic Counselors developed the following definition of genetic counseling that was approved by the NSGC Board of Directors: genetic counseling is the process of helping people understand and adapt to the medical, psychological and familial implications of genetic contributions to disease.

Abstract: The NSGC definition of genetic counseling states that genetic counseling is the process of helping people understand and adapt to the medical, psychological, and familial implications of the genetic contributions to disease. This process integrates: 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. The full definition may be most useful for teaching and research purposes. Alternatively, it can be shortened to only the first sentence. We anticipate that the shorter version will be most useful for marketing, policy, legislation and educational materials.