Genograms

1
Genograms

• Exploring your family genogram is the first step
  in the family systems approach to therapy.

2
Genogram

• A genogram is a symbolic picture of your family
  tree. It shows important dates and
  characteristics of your siblings, parents,
  grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, and other
  relatives.

3
(No Transcript)
4
(No Transcript)
5
Genogram

• Hints for Building Your Genogram
• http//www.smartdraw.com/specials/genealogy.asp

6
Genogram Pass it On!

• We repeat what we experience. Another way
  families reduce tension and remain stable is to
  pass uncomfortable energy down the line. So, for
  example, if your dad was incested when he was
  three, he probably does not remember it.
• However, the unresolved feelings remain, stewing
  and festering. These feelings may later emerge
  such things as depression, rage, drug or alcohol
  abuse. Unless dad heals these issues, his
  children probably will acquiring them from him.

7
Genogram Get the Facts

• Talk to aunts and uncles, cousins and
  grandparents to get the information you need. As
  you make contact (face to face, by phone or
  letter) with the people in your family you rarely
  talk to, things will begin to change in your own
  life and in your relationship with your parents.

8
Geneograms Patterns

• The first goal here is to look for patterns of
  behavior. Chances are you'll find a relative who
  suffered from the same problem(s) that are
  troubling you. These kinds of patterns can be
  comforting.
• Lets imagine you just divorced an alcoholic
  spouse. Does every woman on dads side of the
  family marry an alcoholic?

9
Genograms Cut-Offs

• The second thing to look for is cut-offs. Did
  your father never mention his childhood? Did your
  mother get in a fight with her brother and not
  speak to him for over 30 years?
• Situations like this are rich storehouses for
  unspoken family rules. As you make contact with
  cut-off parts of the family, energy earthquakes
  occur in the family system. The assigned roles in
  every family can exist only if the family
  structure remains in stasis.

10
Genogram No more cutoff

• Calling your long-lost auntie disrupts the stasis
  or stability of the system. The rigid role
  structures loosen or dissolve. You free yourself
  to create something new for yourself in your own
  life and in your relationship to your family.
• Your personal role in a rigid family structure
  can become more fluid and dynamic as you get to
  know other members of the family tree. Perhaps in
  your immediate family you are seemingly stuck in
  the role of the mess-up." In connecting to your
  greater family, you may find that you can become
  closer to your true self.

11
Genogram Subsystems

• These relationships are complex. There are
  ongoing subsystems. Subsystems make up the whole
  system. Tensions in life are translated into
  family tension. If the family has difficulty
  dealing with stress or lacks extended family
  support, then the family may hold more tension.
  Tension changes family interaction patterns.
  There are four different relationship patterns
  that may be highlighted
• Marital conflict
• Dysfunction in one spouse
• Impairment of one or more children
• Emotional distance