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. The connector lines and shapes can also tell who is living and who has passed away, if people are married or simply living together and more.One thing I love about genograms is that a genogram can be very flexible. This is done by specific symbols and connectors, telling the viewer if a child was miscarried, if there was an abortion, if there are twins, if someone is adopted, etc. Unlike family trees, however, genograms contain additional information including the way people are related.
The most basic layer of the genogram contains the family members and the way each person is related to the rest. While in some genograms all layers co-exist, sometimes diagrams are drawn separately for each of the above-mentioned purposes. The third layer adds additional clarity of the emotional bonds and relationships, including who was in love with whom, who is obsessed by someone else, who is abusive mentally and/or physically, etc. The second layer usually contains information on diseases such as heart condition, diabetes, etc. The first layer describes the basic information related to the people in the family - marriage, divorce, children, etc. The main task of genograms is to visualize the relationships between the members within a family on a very deep level, as well as the genetic diseases which may be transferred from/to a family member.ĭespite that genograms are not strictly categorized on different types, most of them contain three layers. Although they are used to describe families and blood relatives connections, genograms greatly differ in look and purpose from the family tree diagrams. Genograms are amongst the youngest members of the diagramming family, with a starting use in 1985.