What a genogram is
A genogram is a drawing of a family that records not only who is who, but what the relationships between them are like. A family tree tells you whose descendant someone is and when they were born. A genogram adds what a pedigree does not know: where there was warmth, where there was tension, who stopped speaking to whom, who divorced and who married again.
It has been used in therapy since the 1970s, and the notation is internationally standardised — a square for a man, a circle for a woman, a double outline for the person you start from. This tool draws to the same standard as the printable genogram template, le da ti pri tem pomaga in ti na koncu list natisne.
Why this helps: patterns travel through families from one generation to the next until someone notices them. With three generations on one sheet, things that felt like a personal quirk show up as a repeating pattern.
How to make a genogram in three steps
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1
Who is in the family
You start with yourself and add relatives: father, mother, partner, children, brothers and sisters. You write a name and a year for each. You can drag people wherever suits you better.
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2
What the relationships are like
You drag from one person to another and a line is drawn between them: a close relationship, tension, or a cut-off. Three questions, three kinds of line — a conversation needs no more than that.
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3
Print it and bring it
The first sheet is the genogram with a legend, the second is the questions for home with blank lines. In the print dialog you can choose "Save as PDF". You can also save the file and continue later.
It takes about a quarter of an hour. If writing by hand suits you better, print the blank PDF template and you won't need the tool at all.
The symbols the tool uses
- square
- male
- circle
- female
- diamond
- sex not known
- double outline
- you — the person you start from
- crossed-out shape
- the person has died
- horizontal line
- a relationship or marriage
- two slashes across
- separation
- vertical lines down
- children, oldest on the left
- double line
- close relationship
- wavy line
- tension
- broken line
- cut-off
The standard knows more than a hundred and fifty symbols; here there are eleven — as many as a conversation actually needs. The tool deliberately stops short of addiction, diagnoses and abuse: those topics call for asking permission first, which an app on your sofa cannot do.
What a genogram lets you see
- How to make your genogram: symbols, three generations and the right questions
- What you can learn about yourself from your family tree
- Family secrets and unfinished stories: where a genogram finds them
- What I inherited besides genes: a family's emotional legacy
- Roles in the family: hero, scapegoat, invisible child
Frequently asked questions
What is a genogram?
A genogram is a drawing of a family that records not only who is who, but what the relationships between them are like. A family tree tells you whose descendant someone is; a genogram also shows where there was warmth, where there was tension, and who stopped speaking to whom. It has been used in therapy since the 1970s, and the notation is internationally standardised by the McGoldrick, Gerson and Petry manual.
How do you make a genogram?
Start with yourself, add parents and grandparents — three generations. Write a name and year of birth for each person, and a year of death where it applies. Once the structure is on paper, draw in the relationships: close, tense or cut off. Only then look at what repeats. This tool walks you through those three steps in order.
What is the difference between a genogram and a family tree?
A family tree is a list of ancestors — whose descendant you are and when each person was born. A genogram adds what a pedigree does not know: the quality of relationships, divorces, remarriages, cut-offs, and the patterns that travel from one generation to the next. That is why a genogram is a working tool of therapy, while a pedigree is a historical record.
How many generations should I include?
Three is the standard and quite enough for a conversation: you, your parents and your grandparents. The tool can draw five generations up and two down, but a genogram so dense that you can't read it at a glance usually says less, not more.
What if I don't know something?
Leave it blank. You can add a person with no name and no year — they will be drawn with a question mark. The empty places in the tree often say more than the filled ones, and in a session they are as useful as the facts.
Where does my data go?
Nowhere. The genogram is created and saved in your browser; it is never sent to a server. You confirm an email address on the way in because the tool is not openly available, but the content of the genogram itself never reaches me unless you bring it to a session or send me the file yourself.
Is the tool free?
Yes. Make it, print it and keep it for yourself, even if you never come to a session.
Once the sheet is drawn
A genogram is useful on its own — but it is often only the start of a conversation. In the A Look into the Past session we look at it together: ninety minutes, one large sheet of paper and your family tree.