Women undergoing pre-amniocentesis genetic counseling sessions were invited to participate in a qualitative exploratory study into personal meaning. Sessions with genetic counselors at a variety of different locations (5) were audiotaped and transcribed. Further, participating genetic counselors were interviewed about their counseling approaches in general and clients participating in the sessions were interviewed as well. These three sources of data are being compared in order to seek understanding of the relationships between counselor conceptualizations of practice, actual practice and client's stated needs. Analysis is underway and follow-up studies will be indicated to determine generalizability.
