Genograms usually contain basic information such as the name, gender and age of members but also include additional data such as occupation, major life events, chronic illness, nature of their relationship with other family members and more. Genograms may also be used by nurses to provide a holistic background of a patient in order to care for them most effectively. This also applies to entire cultures and cultural genograms can help understand behaviors across cultures too. This is inline with the Bowen family systems theory which views human behavior as an emotional unit and that these behaviors can be understood by examining the background of the actors involved. Genograms are important because they give a much richer picture of the relationships between people in a family and are most frequently used in social work and psychology to help in family therapy.Ī genogram is typically used by a social therapist or psychologist to assess a person’s background and explore the relationship between family members to help explain behavioral patterns in children and adults. Genograms were then developed by clinical psychologists Monica McGoldrick and Randy Gerson in 1985 and were soon adopted by experts in fields ranging from medicine and psychology to social work and genetic research.

Genograms were first invented by Murray Bowen in the 1970s in his work on family system models.

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