Once you have collected and assessed the information, let us look at how to start formulating the genogram. The first thing to do is to look at the basic symbols used in the genogram: 

There are many rules that should be followed when developing a genogram. Genopro.com has identified four rules to follow:

The male parent is always to the left of the family and the female parent is always to the right. This is:

In the case of ambiguity, assume a male-female relationship, rather than male-male or female-female relationship. A spouse must always be closer to his/her first partner, then the second partner (if any), third partner, and so on. This is:

The oldest child is always at the left of his family, the youngest child is always at the right of his family. This is:

Also, the genograms can incorporate descriptive information such as age of the individual, year they were born or died, occupation, how they died, etc. This is up to the practitioner as to what they wish to incorporate into the genogram.

Now, we will put together a basic genogram:

In this example, the genogram shows Ken (aged 40) and Julie (aged 36) who are married with two daughters, Ann (aged 16) and Jo (aged 14). Let’s explore another example:

In this case, Jason (aged 34) and Julie (aged 36) are divorced and have one son together (Toby, aged 12). Julie is remarried to John.

In the next post, we will look at some complex symbols used to create genograms. 

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 25th, 2008 at 2:08 pm and is filed under Special Reports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.