How to Use Genogram Templates in Psychotherapy
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If you’re a mental health therapist looking for interventions to support clients in understanding their family dynamics, you’re in the right place. These genogram templates provide a visual aid for therapists and clients to explore a client’s family history.
In this article, you’ll find an overview of genograms and why they’re useful for therapists, along with genogram examples, helpful genogram symbols, and directions on how to create a genogram.
We’ve also included a free printable genogram worksheet to use with clients, which you can save for future use in your electronic health record (EHR).
What are genograms and how can they be useful in psychotherapy?
Genograms are like a family tree, but they provide more details into family dynamics by using special symbols and rules to denote relationships, behaviors, identities, and conflicts.
There are numerous benefits of using genograms, such as:
- They may reveal certain family dynamics that can be hard to identify in talk therapy.
- Help clients understand relational styles, communication patterns, a history of conflicts, and in particular, the role each family member plays. This may be helpful to solve conflicts and power struggles.
- Provide a birds-eye view of a family system, with valuable generational insights, without being overwhelming.
- Identify traits or characteristics, like a genetic predisposition to certain mental health conditions.
- Can highlight root causes of the client’s issues or concerns.
- Adaptability to the therapeutic process, since genograms can be used as part of the assessment, individual therapy sessions, and family therapy.
How to create a genogram
The easiest way to approach a genogram is to use a template, such as the downloadable genogram template we’ve included in this article.
Directions to create a genogram:
1. Familiarize yourself with the rules and symbols listed in the key at the top of the worksheet.
2. Start with immediate family members, then include each generation after that. Aim to complete at least three generations (if known).
3. Using the symbols in the key, add significant details, such as identities, relational patterns, health information, traumas, and other relevant information.
Genogram examples
Genograms can be complex, since they can include a range of information.
Below are two genogram examples that illustrate different family dynamics, focusing on different characteristics:
Case one: Complex family system highlighting strengths, dynamics, and medical history
Published by the University of Michigan, this genogram example illustrates a Black family, centered around Ella, a 56-year old Black woman. The genogram was produced to support Ella in addressing her therapeutic goal of accepting the loss of her father. This genogram also includes the family's strengths, which provides a balanced view of the family system.
Case two: A family unit illustrating drug use, violence, and mental health conditions
This example was produced by the Department of Education in the UK as a research practice tool. By examining the genogram, you can see that this family has numerous contentious relationships involving violence and external relationships with social support systems.
How to use genogram templates
Using the genogram template, start by deciding how much information you’d like to record in the genogram, depending on your objective.
For example, are you trying to highlight relational patterns, substance use, mental health conditions, or something else? Once you’ve decided, you can highlight the relevant symbols you plan to use in the key at the top of the page. You can also create your own index of symbols.
When using the genogram template with clients, you can either start with the oldest generation and work toward your client, or work in the reverse direction. When collecting information from your client, help them look for any patterns that might provide insights for your client and could potentially inform their treatment plan.
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