He Family genogram , Also known as familiograma, goes beyond the well-known genealogical tree. It is a tool widely used in the world of psychotherapy and psychology, because it allows us to know detailed information of the current family and origin of the person who comes for help.
This tool was developed by Monica McGoldrick and Randy Gerson in the year 1985. McGoldrick and Gerson Publish a book entitled" Genograms: evaluation and intervention, which explains the tool extensively" .
Usually the professionals who use this tool most are those who work in the branch of family therapy. We can say that thanks to the genogram the therapist can have a real vision of the patient's family, since knowing where the patient comes from can give the professional valuable information that will help him to work with the person in a more specific way.
This tool is not only used by psychologists and therapists, but is also used by professionals working in fields such as medicine, psychiatry, social work, genetics and education.
You may not believe it, but our family roots, determine to a great extent who we are today.
It is true that the personality of an individual and the experiences he lives are not only governed by the family context and interpersonal relationships, but we can say that at this very moment you are who you are thanks to a broad set of factors understood as external and Interns.
But in this article we are going to focus on the scope of the family system, since to encompass all the influences by which a person develops, would involve embracing life in its broader and chaotic concept.
It will surely surprise you to know that the influence of your family system on you may come from members you have not even met, or who died long before you were born.
There may be in your family some repetitive pattern that you find curious, referring to trades, diseases and even experiences that have been lived. Well, thanks to the genogram you can see more clearly where that pattern begins or who was the first person who had such experience or pathology. That is, this complete tool gives us information about repetitive patterns of behavior and hereditary tendencies.
In the familiograma also collects information of inflection points in the family system, so that you understand me would be something like very relevant moments for the family where they originated irreversible changes that affect the whole system and those people who compose it.
Also thanks to the symbols used and the information you collect you can have a wide view of your family system, who are its members and some information about them.
Basic components of the genogram
Before you know the 9 steps that will help you to make your familiograma, I would like to tell you some of the basic components that can be reflected in the graphical representation of the system. These components can refer to the characteristics and circumstances of each member, or to their relationships.
Some of the traits that give us information about the interpersonal relationships that exist between the members of the family are:
- Closeness and characteristics of relationships Between members of the system: the genogram can represent the type of relationship that exists between two members of the family in particular. The codification for its reading is based on drawing lines that indicate us aspects about how two people are taken. The coding would be as follows:
- If there is a close and very good relationship between the two members, there would be two parallel lines between them.
- Those members with a very close relation of fused type would be united by three parallel lines. A fused relationship is determined by a symbiosis. In this case it would be a symbiosis of interdependence.
- A dashed line between two people would indicate a distant relationship.
- Between two people who have a hostile relationship would draw a toothed line.
- A toothed line with three parallel lines shows a very close and hostile relationship. That is narrow and conflictive.
- The genogram includes the Part of the family with which the person lives Which performs the genogram at the time of the query. It would be determined by means of a closed dashed line that collects those members that coexist with the person.
- Triangles : When we talk about triangulation in the family system, we refer to the coalition between two family members against another member. This type of family pattern is usually seen between one parent and one child against another parent. In the familiogram would be represented joining the three members by the geometric figure of a triangle.
On the other hand the strokes used that give us information about the familiar itself are the following symbols and data, which help us to identify each member. Some of the basic symbols that can help you get started are:
- Sex : In the genogram according to the sex of the family member is differentiated by 2 geometric figures:
- The circle to represent a woman
- The square to represent a man.
- Deaths : Within the geometric figure is drawn a blade to indicate it visually.
- Abortions : Depending on whether it has been spontaneous or induced, it is represented by a colored circle of black or simply a blade.
- Pregnancy : Are represented by a triangle.
- Data : We can indicate the following data
- Current age or death: it is written inside the symbol of the circle or the square.
- Name: right next to the symbol.
- Diseases: if relevant to the system.
Now that you know the most important symbols to be able to make a correct familiograma, in the following section I show you in 9 steps how you can draw basic and initial your own.
Build your family genogram in 9 steps
I recommend before you start to do it in pencil in case you want to erase something, since the first times this task is performed, it is common to err with symbols and lines, or confuse members.
Now, here are the 9 steps that will help you to create your own familiograma, each step is supported with images to make it easier for you to understand.
- Start by drawing yourself
In this case, since you are the one who performs you must draw with a double line that forms the square if you are a man, or the circle if you are a woman.
- If you have brothers and / or sisters draw them in chronological order at your side and on the same horizontal line as you. The chronological order goes from left to right, from the older brother to the younger brother.
If there are twins it is represented forming a triangle where the members are placed in the vertices of the same.
If there are twins the same figure is drawn but without joining the two members.
- Draw a vertical line upwards that comes out of each of the symbols of your brothers without forgetting to draw yours too. Comment that if one of these brothers did not come to birth his line is represented in a discontinuous way.
- Then a little above the line where you appear you and your brothers draws your father and your mother, it is important that you know that in the genogram the woman is represented on the right and the man on the left.
- Now draw a continuous line between them and connect them with all their children. (This step will be clearer with the example of the end of the article).
If they are married, the marriage date is indicated on the line.
- In the opposite case that your parents are separated or divorced, you must draw the line so that a little diagonal line in the case of separation and two parallel diagonal lines in case of divorce can be appreciated. You must also include the date of separation.
- Couples who are not married are joined by a dashed line, in this case the date that indicates the one in which they met or began to live together. Again this aspect can be seen in the example at the end of the article.
- If there is more than one marriage, they will be placed in chronological order by placing the oldest on the left and the most recent on the right.
- Now that you have already located and drawn your closest family, do the same process with your parents. Do not forget your brothers.
- Again do the same process with your grandparents. You can make the genogram to the generation you want, usually done until the 3rd or 4th generation.
- Now add to each member their data: age, name, diseases...
- If you have created another system with another person (you are married and have children) you can also add it to the genogram.
As you may have noticed, making a genogram is quite practical, and has its level of complexity. The genogram can become very complicated when doing so, because the structure of the system may not follow a pattern of marriage and gestation throughout the timeline.
It is natural that you lack information from the previous generations, so you can ask a family member to think that you can have access to that information. Who really know how to create a genogram, are those professionals who have been trained specifically for it, so this guide is very basic, and if you need to make a complete genogram you should go to people trained for that purpose.
The genogram can be done by hand or computer, as there are nowadays computer programs that can help you to do it in a virtual way.
They are the following:
The program GenoPro , You can download it from the following link: .
Another program that has a good result when making genograms and that you can download it from the internet is Smartdraw , The link to download is this: .
Visual example
To finish the article I leave here an example of a genegram. The structure of the system is also enclosed in a written form, this will help you to get a more real view of how a genegram is finally left with the basic elements that I have discussed throughout the article.
In the example that you have next the genogram is made up to the third generation and in this case the relational aspects like the triangulation and the lines of characteristics of the relations are not included.
Pedro, a 20 year old boy who studies psychology, has to make a genegram to work in class. He lives at home with his parents and brothers. His brother is Juan and he is 16 years old. He also has a sister named María, is 28 years old; She is not married but lives with her partner who is Jose, 29 years old. Maria recently had a miscarriage.
Pedro's parents are called Rosa and Ramón, both are 40 years old. He married in November 1988.
Pedro has 3 uncles, one by his mother, who is Antonio and is 33 years old. On the part of father has 1 uncle and 1 aunt, Manuel of 35 years and Lola of 34.
Pedro's paternal grandparents are called Cristina, who is 60 years old, and Paco, who passed away with 65 last year. He married in November 1975
Pedro's maternal grandparents both died in a car accident years ago. They were called Juana and Pepe. When the accident occurred they were 69 and 71 respectively. They were married in May 1976
References
- Genograms: Assessment and Intervention. Monica McGoldrick, Randy Gerson, Sylvia Shellenberger. 1985
- Invisible loyalties. Ivan Boszormenyi-Nagy, Spark Geraldine. 1973
- Transgenerational analysis: the geneogram as a technique in family therapy. Stuart Lieberman. 1979