What Is a Genogram? Definition and Example

A genogram is a diagram of a family that shows more than who descends from whom. It maps three layers on one page: the family structure across at least three generations, the medical and mental-health history of its members, and the quality of the relationships between them. Standard symbols carry each layer, so a clinician anywhere can read a genogram the same way.

The word combines "generation" and "diagram". The tool comes from family systems therapy and was standardized by Monica McGoldrick and Randy Gerson in 1985; their notation remains the professional standard today.

What a genogram shows

Three kinds of information sit on the same drawing:

Structure. Squares for men, circles for women, partnership lines between them, vertical lines down to children. This skeleton looks like a family tree, and reads like one.

Health history. Markers inside or beside the shapes record illnesses, addictions, and causes of death. Patterns become visible: the same condition appearing in every generation, or clusters of loss in a single decade.

Relationships. Lines between people describe how they relate: close, fused, conflicted, distant, cut off. This is the layer no family tree has, and for therapeutic work it is the most important one.

The symbols reference covers the full notation; the three-generation example shows a complete genogram of a fictional family with a walkthrough of how to read it.

Genogram vs family tree

A family tree answers "who are my ancestors". A genogram answers "what runs in my family". The detailed comparison covers when each fits, and when an ecomap does the job better.

How to make one

A first genogram takes an evening: interview relatives, sketch the structure on paper, add the layers. The step-by-step guide walks the whole process, from choosing whom to include to the conventions for complex families.