#Genogram genogram with legend how to#
#Genogram genogram with legend professional#

1) Determine the purposeīefore creating a genogram, clarify the purpose. The following eight steps outline a general process for creating a genogram. While some rules and symbols are standardized, others vary depending on personal preference or cultural context.

#Genogram genogram with legend how to#

How to create a genogram in eight stepsĬreating a genogram involves a combination of rules and symbols to depict complex family dynamics. This positive approach fosters resilience, self-awareness, and growth within individuals and generations. By highlighting positive traits, talents, and values that run through a family’s history, therapists can help clients tap into their inherent strengths and build upon them. Genograms also serve as a foundation for nurturing generational strengths. This information can help therapists better understand their clients and guide treatment decisions. During therapy sessions, genograms can reveal patterns of mental illness, genetic predispositions, and familial tendencies. One of the key benefits of genograms is their ability to provide valuable information about a client’s family history. They can help identify recurring issues, predict potential challenges, and offer insights into possible solutions. Genograms provide process flowof holistic view of a family’s strengths and weaknesses by mapping out relationships, emotions, and behaviors. Genograms are potent tools for uncovering family patterns and understanding their impact on individuals. It goes beyond simply noting marriages and births it uncovers the complexities and nuances of family dynamics.įor example, while a family tree might show that ” Diana and Charles were married,” a genogram could reveal that “Diana and Charles were married but had a distant and strained relationship.” The importance of genograms Imagine a genogram as a detailed family history and relationships map. While a family tree focuses on lineage, a genogram delves deeper into the dynamics, emotions, and behaviors that shape family life. It visually represents a family’s relationships, interactions, and patterns across multiple generations.

If you're writing up the family history, patterns established in a genogram can be very helpful as a way of explaining why ancestral family members left one geographical area for another, what sorts of relationship issues members had and may help to unearth other family members who were not officially recognized.A genogram is more than just a traditional family tree design.

Be very careful to avoid approaching your family members in a judgmental way as a result of making a genogram talk to your family or personal counselor before proceeding to reach conclusions from a self-generated genogram. While you might find your aunt has a tendency to quit every job she has ever had while your cousin has always seemed to steal other people's boyfriends, it's not a good idea to use the genogram to 'prove' your point that a family member needs psychoanalysis.

Avoid using the genogram to make assumptions about the motivations of family members as well, or using this to confront them.

#Genogram genogram with legend professional#

Talk to a medical professional about any potential for hereditary problems of this type. The data is one thing, but avoid using it to confirm that your family has a particular disease, or mental issue. There may be hereditary patterns or particular psychological tendencies that are very noticeable when grouped together in this way. Once you've made the genogram, look carefully to see what patterns can be identified. Do you want to know who in your family has depression, addictions, or a history of cancer? Perhaps you want to know more about why your mother and her mother never get along, by looking for the right clues you’ll be able to make a genogram that serves your goals. Think about what kind of information you want to learn from making your genogram.It will also tell you how many kids each union (typically between two individuals) has, what each child is like, and what the individual relationships are between members on more than just a physical level. For example, a genogram can tell you who is married, divorced, widowed, etc.You'll not only learn who is in your family, but how everyone is connected through physical and emotional relationships.

Only in addition to looking at the branches, you also look at the leaves on each branch. Once you know why you're making a genogram, whether it’s for a healthcare provider, school project, or just to get to know you and your family more, knowing what it is you want to learn can help you to organize how you go about populating your genogram.