FAMILY GENOGRAM PROJECT 1
Family Genogram Project
Charity Morton
School of Behavioral Sciences, Liberty University
Abstract
A genogram provides a visual way to map familial relationships and analyze potential themes
and patterns. After creating the genogram, themes, patterns, and family dynamics emerged. I
explored how the themes and patterns affect how I view myself. Additionally, I explored cultural,
historical, and personal characteristics, such as the cultural impact of being biracial, the loss of
my grandparents, and how my family and I use humor. Additionally, looking at the lifecycle-
related issues such as the age difference between my siblings and me, my role as the caretaker,
and the impact on the family because my youngest brother never met my mother’s parents,
aided in uncovering aspects that have influenced my family and the patterns that emerge from
these issues. Additionally, this assignment uncovered specific areas I need to work on as a
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future counselor, such as utilizing genograms to better assist future clients. With that, this
assignment revealed patterns of resilience, the importance of a good image in the family, and
how interconnected my family is. This assignment revealed patterns and themes that aided in
increasing my self-awareness to be a better counselor.
Keywords: genogram, family, relationship
Family Genogram Project
By exploring my family’s genogram, I uncovered themes and patterns that would have
gone unnoticed without using the genogram. I explored multigenerational, cultural, historical,
and personal themes. Additionally, I uncovered intergenerational dynamics and themes to
understand who I am and how my family’s history affects who I am today. This paper reveals
information that will aid my development as a future counselor by allowing me increased
selfawareness.
Overview
I grew up in a traditional nuclear family in a Christian household. My parents are
Republican and middle-class, and both work jobs to maintain their finances. My father is from
Indiana, whilst my mother is from the Philippines. I grew up in a loving environment with
supportive parents who constantly pushed us to do our best and give God the glory in all we do.
We were active in the church and served often. I grew up in Hawai’i before college, and I believe
that played a cultural role in my life in addition to being Filipino American.
Multigenerational
Looking at various aspects of the genogram, I can see more signs of resilience that I had
not previously noticed, indicating I come from a line of resilient and dedicated individuals.
Looking at my mother and aunt, who moved to the United States from the Philippines, I see
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their desire to move to another country so their future family could have a better life.
Additionally, I know more about the Filipino side of my family than I do about the Caucasian
side. My mother often tells stories about her time in the Philippines, which has allowed me to
celebrate and enjoy the rich culture I come from. On the other hand, my father knows very little
about his heritage and states that he is “just white.” This lack of understanding of one side of my
family explains why I identify more with one side of my family than the other as a biracial
woman. Additionally, seeing the patterns in hobbies among my family members highlights more
of why I enjoy my hobbies. Looking at the hobby of music, I see that my father, siblings, and
cousins enjoy it as well, and while conceptually I knew that the love of music ran in my family, I
did not see how far the pattern spread amongst my family members. My father is heavily
involved in music, and growing up with him, he also influenced me and my love for music, along
with my siblings. In a way, by also enjoying and being involved in music, I can connect with my
family on a deeper level. With the genogram, I can see more connections between my family
and me and recognize that family members’ behaviors influence each other, and we are all
interconnected.
Cultural
Looking at the genogram and how that affects my cultural understanding of myself, as
stated previously, I do not know much about the Caucasian side of my family, nor does my
father. Seeing how little I could fill out about my father’s side of the family allowed me to reflect
on how that affects my identity. I tend to identify more as Filipino due to the rich culture I grew
up around and how much my mother shares about her family and heritage. Growing up in
Hawai’i enabled me to be surrounded by many Filipinos and mixed-race individuals, allowing me
to experience my culture and be proud of my cultural identity.
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Historical
Understanding the historical aspects of the genogram, such as the death of my Filipino
grandparents, sheds insight into my values. After my grandparents’ death, my mother often
talked about the regret she had with not calling them more or being able to go back to the
Philippines to visit them. Since leaving home, I have prioritized my relationship with my parents
and strive to strengthen it with them. I do not want to feel the same regret my mother did.
Additionally, my mother’s resilience and bravery in moving to a new country displayed
her desire and value for her future family to have freedom and a better life than she had. She
continued to push me to constantly do well educationally and succeed, a value I now adopt. I
constantly strive to do my best and succeed, but I tend to overachieve. My mother was also an
overachiever who prioritized school, so it is understandable why I am that way. Looking at my
father’s relationship with his father, because he did not know his biological father before he
died, he prioritized his relationship with his stepfather, which is likely also why my father
prioritizes his relationship with me and my siblings.
Personal Characteristics
Looking at some of the characteristics highlighted in the genogram that some of my
family members share, I see that many share humor. It is a characteristic that elicits bonding
among family members. I can connect with my family members more when I utilize humor,
which is a way to bond with some of them. We spend much of our family time laughing and
having fun with each other. Additionally, being loving and outwardly showing love is a
characteristic each family member shows. Growing up in an environment where individuals love
each other fiercely and defend each other taught me to do the same, and I can do the same
with my family and friends. Visually seeing information about my family, in the way that a
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genogram does, allowed me to make connections that I previously thought were attributes that
only I had. It increases my awareness of myself and allows me to explore my values and beliefs
more.
Lifecycle Related Issues
Lifecycle-related issues include the age gap among siblings. My older brother and I are
relatively close due to our age difference and how we grew up together. Although with my
younger brother, due to the increased age difference, my older brother and I are not as close to
him, especially since he is still in Hawai’i in high school with my parents. For a while, we felt a
disconnect with him. Although as he ages and matures, my older brother and I have been
relating to him more and can connect and bond with him better, despite the age difference.
As the middle child and only girl, I often took on the caretaker role, especially while my
younger brother was a baby. My mother still had to teach at our school after having my
youngest brother, so I often cared for him and tended to his needs. I resented this role growing
up because I felt I had to do everything. Now that I am older, I understand and am grateful for
the experience I gained in that role when I was younger. It has influenced my family because I
care for the house and my younger sibling when my mom is not home. Even now that I am
older, I tend to be attentive to others’ needs and attempt to help whenever necessary. When I
go back home to visit my family, I often slip into my formal role growing up, and my family tends
to rely
on it.
Another lifecycle-related issue would be how my youngest brother never met my
mother’s parents. Due to difficulties with traveling to the Philippines, he never met my grandpa
before he died, and my grandmother died when he was one. Because of this, I noticed how my
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parents have made it a priority for my youngest brother to know my father’s parents and be
closer to them. My mother’s grief of losing both her parents, knowing that her youngest child
never got to meet her parents, was a challenge for her to get through, which is why they now
prioritize seeing my father’s parents when they can and often talk on the phone to strengthen
their relationship.
Intergenerational Patterns
Looking at the three generations on the genogram, I notice a pattern: more positive
emotional relationships are on my mother's side of the family. This pattern is likely due to the
cultural value of Asian families, where family is a priority. Although there are some patterns of
emotional connection among siblings as parents on my father's side, it is not as apparent when
compared to my mother's side of the family. Looking at each generation, I see a generational
pattern of women taking on the caretaker role in the family. Because of this, my mom also
influenced me to take on this role.
Additionally, looking at how my mother and her mother prioritized success and
education, it is understandable why my mother made it a priority for me and my siblings, as well
as my aunt did for my cousins. With that, looking at the education obtained from each
generation, there is a theme of each generation obtaining more educational opportunities than
the last. That was each generation of parents' goal for their children. Additionally, being an
educator is a pattern in my family as well. My mother, aunt, and oldest brother are educators in
some form, and growing up, I thought I wanted to be a teacher as well. Asian families value
bringing honor to the family, and along the same theme of success, I assumed I had to be a
teacher, as my mother was to make her proud. I even substituted often and told others I would
be a teacher, but I knew that was not what I wanted to do. I am glad I did not let my assumption
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of what my mother wanted lead me into a career I did not truly love. Additionally, I am glad I did
not let the pattern in my family make me feel as if I had to follow that career path.
Because of the Asian values of prioritizing family and ensuring every action brings honor
to your family name. Unfortunately, I have noticed a pattern of members in the family keeping
their money struggles hidden. The obsession with constantly looking put together and perfect
causes issues and hinders the ability to ask for help. My aunt and uncle struggled financially due
to my uncle's work accident, which left him unable to return to his job. We noticed how they
continued to live above their means and often had to borrow money. It was not until a few years
ago that my aunt finally got a job to help keep up with the financial stressors. This is a pattern I
notice in my immediate family as well. Issues such as struggling to ask for help and allowing
others to see the imperfections in life are unhealthy patterns. This aspect is an area that I am
consciously working on and am attempting to show my family because it aids in building trust
and allows me to live an authentic life.
With the theme of religion and faith, each generation strongly believed in Roman
Catholicism or Christianity. My grandparents on both sides believed in Roman Catholicism, and
my family and my aunt believed in Christianity. My parents both came to Christianity at different
times before they met and continued to teach that to their children. With that, my parents were
heavily involved in church and church ministry. I noticed a pattern of all my siblings working in a
church setting, likely because of our upbringing. My brother works and serves at a Baptist
college, and my parents and younger brother are still heavily involved in various ministries at my
home church. I also serve in other ministries at my local church. The theme of service and
church work is in my parents, siblings, and me.
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Lastly, looking at patterns that influence me, I see many strengths along my family tree
that I have unknowingly adopted. One of which is resiliency. My mother and aunt moved to the
United States from a small province in the Philippines. It was very different for them, but they
acculturated well and grew accustomed to the United States. The genogram showed the
strength they had through many life transitions and hardships, such as miscarriage and grief.
Additionally, kindness, love, and joy have been key parts of many of the relationships in my
family, and the fierceness of each family member's love shows how deep-rooted Asian values
are as well as the strengths of caring for each other.
Work On
To become a better counselor, I need to work on creating genograms and practicing
using them. Creating my own took quite some time, and I want to be able to use this effectively
with clients in the future. To do that, I need to be able to not only properly create one but also
interpret it correctly. I plan to ask my friends if I can practice using genograms on them and help
them uncover patterns and themes in their families.
Reflection
Being able to create a genogram of my family highlighted how little I know about my
father’s side of the family. Even upon asking my father questions about his family, he
unfortunately had to admit that he did not know much. This aspect showed me how I need to
prioritize learning more about my family because uncovering more about my family history aids
in understanding other patterns, dynamics, and themes in my family. Some issues that I had not
thought about previously were how my family prioritizes having a good image rather than
sharing the complex parts of life and discussing issues. This is an area that I am highly motivated
to change because I want to be able to live authentically.
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Additionally, I did not realize how interconnected my family is. I knew that in my family
tree, some individuals shared hobbies, and I had shared interests with them, but I did not
visually see how connected my family was until I saw it on the genogram. It leaves me in awe to
see how God created families and each of us in our unique way, but how connected we can all
still be. Lastly, after making the genogram, there were signs of resilience that I had not noticed
before that I now see in a visual form. I can celebrate the strengths passed down through
generations that make me proud of who I am and those before me. As a future counselor,
understanding and gaining self-awareness about my family has provided me with insight that
will continue to foster counseling skills such as empathy and aid as I identify my therapeutic
approach and understand the interconnectedness of families.
Conclusion
By creating the genogram and analyzing the patterns, I noticed themes, patterns, and
dynamics that I would not have noticed otherwise. By analyzing my family tree and patterns, I
gained an increased self-awareness about who I am, my family, and why I am the way I am. With
this, I can become a better counselor and assist my clients. Additionally, I can use genograms on
my clients to help them.
