Answer:
Explanation:
A genogram is essentially an enhanced version of the family tree. To start, you map out your family history, going back two or three generations (or more if you feel really ambitious). However, rather than simply recording the historical facts about your family, you also note patterns of behavior, and the quality of relationships between different family members.
I was first introduced to the concept of the genogram when I was in seminary. As part of a class my first year, we were asked to compile a genogram as a way of better understanding our own family history. My professor explained that if we know where we come from, and the particular issues and temptations that have affected our relatives, we can more easily identify and overcome those same issues ourselves.
Genograms are often used by counselors and therapists with an interest in what’s called Family Systems Theory. In a nutshell, Family Systems Theory is a way of understanding individuals as part of a larger family “system.” FST argues that evaluating a person only as an individual — outside their upbringing and family life — misses key information about them. This is because the more anxiety and conflict there is in a person’s family system, the more likely it is that they have been adversely affected by the people around them.
Genograms are useful because they help to unpack family dynamics, some of which have been in play for decades. The way your parents treated you was largely influenced by the way their parents treated them, just as your grandparents were shaped by the way their parents treated them, and so on.
Understanding the history (and sometimes, dysfunction) of your family can be a powerful opportunity for personal growth. The more we understand how we have been shaped by the network of personalities and relationships that we’ve grown up with, the more we can identify what we want to hold on to, and what we want to change.
How to Make a Family Genogram
Genograms typically use different symbols as shorthand to depict both the individuals in a family system, and the nature of their relationships with one another.
For example, males are often drawn as squares, and females as circles. Children are indicated through a connected solid line, usually below the names of their parents.
Here is an illustration of an immediate family:
Family diagram.
Now let’s add aunts and uncles, as well as grandparents. We can also use different symbols to explain some of the relationships. Healthy relationships are marked with the solid line. Divorce can be shown with two slashes on the line:
Blood relations of family.
Tracking Traits
One of the things you can do with a family genogram is track how certain personality traits or talents have been passed through your family line.
For example, perhaps you are a musician, and in the process of talking with family members, you realize musical ability (indicated with “M” below) runs throughout your family tree:
Blood line of family.
Or, perhaps you are looking for whether or not alcohol or a certain prescription medication is something you want to consume. Looking at your family history may help you understand that you could be predisposed towards certain substance abuse addictions (indicated with “SA” below) or other unhealthy vices:
Blood lines of family.
Tracking Relationships
Any conflict that you want to note between family members can be marked by a squiggly line, rather than a solid one. For example, perhaps there has been ongoing conflict on your father’s side between between your father and grandfather. In the genogram, you would want to note this, and indicate your understanding of the conflict: