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Family Patterns and Genogram

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Family Patterns and Genogram

Part 1: Genogram Research Summary

Family systems are not as easy to understand as they appear on the outside. A genogram can help represent complicated family dynamics in a visual format and can reflect patterns over many generations. Unlike a simple family tree, a genogram is a representation of familial relationships, along with emotional features such as patterns of behavior and interactions. Genograms became widely popular in the 1970, mostly used by family therapists (Joseph et al., 2023). This was especially through the work of family systems theorists like Murray Bowen. They focused on how emotional patterns move through generations. Rather than viewing individuals in isolation, genograms encourage people to look at the family as an interrelated system where one person’s experiences often affect everyone else.

Genograms are used in various professional settings. In counselling and social work settings they can be widely applied in assisting to uncover communication problems, trauma, addiction behaviors, or emotional derailments in families. Healthcare practitioners also rely on them when investigating inherited disorders like diabetes, hypertension, cancer or mental illness (Joseph et al., 2023). Genograms are just like maps. They make it easier to notice some patterns, as they are placed visually. These patterns are hard to identify when they are scattered through conversations and memories.

A genogram is created by gathering family information from members of the family and using symbols and lines to show it. Squares are typically used for males, and circles for females. Relationships like marriage, separation, conflict, or emotional closeness can be shown with different types of lines. Other notes could be ages, health issues, or major life events. While easy on the surface, it may also involve some emotional challenges because not all families are willing to speak of their pasts openly. Some family members might not discuss difficult situations and some people remember events differently. This alone is enough to show how conflict and memory are handled within families.

There are advantages to creating a genogram. It assists individuals to be more aware of their recurring patterns, relationship styles, and communication patterns that are otherwise not noticed. It can also enhance family understanding, as some things will start to make more sense in relation to their historical background. Genograms offer clues to family dynamics and may enable individuals to see through the patterns that could be passed down to subsequent generations unless acknowledged (Rigazio‐DiGilio & Kang, 2021). Studying genograms was an eye-opening experience for me in understanding how familial relationships influence identity, emotional development, and long-term behaviors within the family. The process demonstrates that family history is more than names and dates. It is also centered on patterns, habits, strengths, and struggles that continue to impact the lives of people.

Part 2: Family Genogram Reflection

Just as I was reviewing the completed genogram, there was one thing that instantly struck me, the separation between my parents. My dad (YLE) and my mom (BRL) are no longer together, and that change in relationships had more of an effect on the family dynamics than I knew. Over time, family events become so normal that people fail to understand how they have helped to form communication patterns, routines, and emotional relationships. A visual representation of all of this made the separation seem less like a single event and more like a turning point that impacted all involved.

I also noticed that the family structure in the genogram was small. The diagram mainly focuses on immediate family relationships between my parents, my brother, myself, and my son. Patterns were still discernible, even in the smaller structure. The genogram presented an interesting overlap of my role as a daughter and parent, as it showed a visualization of responsibility and emotional relationships that span across generations. It was easier to imagine generational influence when I saw my son under me, than it was when I was reading about it in a book.

Getting the information was not that hard, but at times, I found myself uncomfortable. It is not usual to talk about separation and relationships between family members. Some bits are easier to talk about than others. This process, however, helped foster more open communication than was characteristic. It is not unusual for families to talk about what is happening now but not discuss experiences from earlier periods that may still have emotional impact. The genogram brought those experiences into the open and with a structured and organized sense.

One patterns that emerged was the significance of roles within the family following the separation. My brother and I seem to be connected to both parents, but the structure illustrates how children may sometimes adapt differently when the nuclear family is separated. Family systems theory states that children adapt to their family's transitions in a variety of ways, including developing coping mechanisms, roles, or emotional boundaries (Paley & Hajal, 2022). The separation line generally indicates the existence of a significant emotional shift in the family system, even if there is no major conflict depicted on the chart.

Creating a genogram can also be useful for couples to improve their relationships, as it can facilitate conversations that may not otherwise occur. People tend to carry communication styles, parenting styles, reactions, or emotions that they had learned in their own childhood experiences to their adult relationships without being aware of it (Lee et al., 2023). Couples may be more aware of patterns that they want to maintain or modify if they have discovered them early. Parents can also teach children about family history and how to develop healthy relationships using genograms. The genogram presents family experiences in a different way and allows family events to be seen within a broader context instead of individual experiences. These conversations can help children gain insight into identity, culture, resiliency, and family systems of support.

This assignment introduced me to a whole new perspective of family relationships. Even the simplest of genogram diagrams can discover emotional patterns, communication methods, and long-standing impacts that are easy to miss out on in everyday life. More significantly, it demonstrated that an appreciation of family history can help subsequent generations to develop healthy and more purposeful relationships.

References

Joseph, B., Dickenson, S., McCall, A., & Roga, E. (2023). Exploring the therapeutic effectiveness of genograms in family therapy: A literature review.  The Family Journal,  31(1), 21-30.

Lee, A. T., Chin, P., Nambiar, A., & Hill Haskins, N. (2023). Addressing intergenerational trauma in Black families: Trauma‐informed socioculturally attuned family therapy.  Journal of marital and family therapy,  49(2), 447-462.

Paley, B., & Hajal, N. J. (2022). Conceptualizing emotion regulation and coregulation as family-level phenomena.  Clinical child and family psychology review,  25(1), 19-43.

Rigazio‐DiGilio, S. A., & Kang, H. (2021). Using community genograms to position culture and context in family therapy.  Foundations of Couples, Marriage, and Family Counseling 2nd Edition, 23-46.