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Genograms help depict the key people in an individual’s life and their relationship with them. People in the field of family therapy, medicine, genetic research, social work, and education use genograms to better understand the family dynamics that affect the actions and behaviors of each entity in the multi-generational diagram. But after mending the relationship, fewer curvy lines and color appear on their genogram. Genograms of families on the brink of breaking off are usually made of squiggly lines as if a child got hold of a pen for the first time.
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As they’re designed to describe the current relationship of a member with the rest of the family, they really tend to change after a year or two. Genograms don’t usually look the same for prolonged periods. They’re connected using lines which help describe the kind of relationship they have with the other entities. Using this system, individuals can be described in the context of their whole family including parents, siblings, parents, grandparents, and spouses.Įach individual in the genogram is represented by a symbol. It was explained in detail in the book they released in 1985. Genograms were developed by Randy Gerson and Monica McGoldrick for their studies in family therapy and clinical psychology. It can span from two to three generations or more, depending on how much information you can gather about your whole family. This sketchnote version of a genogram symbol key is now available via the links below.One member of the family to another, whether it’s by blood,īy marriage, by kinship, or by adoption What is a Genogram?Ī genogram is an expanded version of the family tree which includes behavioral patterns, descriptions on the quality of relationships, individual traits, historical facts, and other family dynamics. In art or play-based genogram interventions, symbols can be replaced with colors, toys, stickers, or figures.
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Ask your client how they would like to be represented, and work collaboratively. The standard symbols (included in the key) and expanded symbols (included in the flashcards) still don’t come close to capturing this fully. This feels especially poignant around gender and sexual identity symbols. Once you’ve learned the language, improvise and adapt to your client or patient’s needs. It gives you vocabulary that weaves together into a meaningful language. Learning/memorizing symbols is important. Centering client experience and self-identification helps this tool empower and spark growth rather than label and pathologize. In the opinion of this author, the ethical use of genograms integrates an individual’s own self-representations and symbolic identifications as the basis. Learning/memorizing genogram symbols is important. If you are interested in learning more about genograms, check out Genograms: Assessment and Interventions (by Monica McGoldrick, Randy Gerson Ph.D., and Sueli Petry Ph.D.) The visual language of Genograms concisely represents the complexity of relationships and intergenerationally transmitted issues. Genograms can serve as a bridge between the seen and unseen, accessible to artists and non-artists alike. While art therapy offers a more visual approach, art therapy can be off-putting to individuals who don’t identify as artists. Seeing something tangible that has only been discussed in the intangible can bring clarity for many individuals. For visual thinkers, however, visual aids help make important connections. I think talk-therapy has incredible value. Recently Added Updates to this Genogram Key: Once aware, we can become empowered to make more informed decisions about our own behaviors. (The field of intergenerational trauma seeks to understand these links in psychology and genealogy.) The genogram is a helpful tool to help us notice patterns. In America, we are especially individualistic and often forget how influenced we are both explicitly and implicitly by our ancestors. It can even be used to track seemingly random events through generations, like religious devotion, teenage pregnancy, miscarriages, sexual abuse, or just about any other human experience. Genograms can be developed for an individual specifically to track addictions, cancers, emotional fusions, estrangements, psychiatric disorders, and more. While there are some standard symbols – many illustrated in this chart – genograms can be adapted in countless ways. One thing I love about genograms is that a genogram can be very flexible.