It is possible that genes contributing to the development of schizophrenia may be identified within the next decade. Genetic methods are improving rapidly, and are surrounded by great public interest. Requests for genetic counselling are keeping pace with this increased attention, but the problems faced by psychiatric genetic counsellors are complex, and the experience of offering such counselling and the issues involved are rarely discussed. In this context the paper describes a year's work counselling for schizophrenia in the Maudsley Hospital Genetic Clinic.