Genogram

Genograms

A genogram is a family tree that comes alive. Family is a complex system that interacts
with a whole community, and kin cannot be understood without focusing on the wider context
with which they live. Genograms contain vast information about your family and their
interactions with one another. It also shows how your family is a product of their time, behavior,
friendship, and lifestyle. Knowing all these are important medically and enables the psychologist
to understand an individual's source of behavior. The article will mainly focus on the history of
genograms, how they are used, completed and the benefits and challenges when using a
genogram.
Dr. Murray Bowen first established the word genogram in 1978 to replace the longer-term
family diagram. The origin of the word is a mystery to us, and all we know is that Bowen started
using it in 1960, and by 1970 it was widely used by the Bowen system therapists. Genograms are
easy to complete. One needs to mention their family members and take a keen interest in medical
history. Conditions such as diabetes, cancer, kidney failure should be a major concern. Other
than the medical history, cases of drug use, smoking, and alcohol should be well written down.
Talk to relatives and note down when the conditions began or when some of the behaviors were
noticed. The ethnicity of ancestors is key as some conditions are related to the ethnic group of a
person.
Developing a genogram is very beneficial in the medical field. A genogram easily
determines the disease pattern of an individual within the family. Other than the illness pattern,
psychologists can determine why someone behaves the way they do as they have the origin of
the behavior and get to know how to help (Huss et al., 2021). The challenge encountered is that it
is sometimes difficult to get the information you need. Parents are a good first step when

3
collecting the data, but some may not disclose the information. Adopted children have even more
difficulties as they do not know their real relatives to obtain information or even death
certificates. A genogram is very helpful in the medical and psychology field as much needed
information is gotten from there.

4

Reference

Huss, E., & Kapulnik, E. (2021). Using creative genograms in family social work to integrate
subjective and objective knowledge about the family: A participatory study. Research on
Social Work Practice, 31(4), 390-399.