1. A simple three-generation genogram
Grandparents, their two children, and the next generation. Most family-of-origin assignments start here: three generations, birth years, and the identified patient marked with a double outline.
2. Blended family genogram
A mother with a child from a first marriage that ended in divorce, and a half-brother from her second marriage. The distant line between the daughter and her stepfather is the pattern this genogram is meant to show.
3. Adoptive family genogram
A couple with one biological son and an adopted daughter (dashed child line), and a miscarriage (small filled circle) between them. Pregnancy losses are part of the family history and belong on the genogram.
4. Case example: a three-generation family with divorce and illness
The identified patient, A.M., is 21 and was referred for anxiety. Her parents divorced in 2012. Her maternal grandfather has diabetes and her paternal grandfather died in 2015. She is close to her mother; her father and younger brother are in conflict. This is the kind of case vignette social work and counseling assignments ask you to diagram.
5. Single-parent family genogram
Parents who lived together and then separated (dashed partner line with one slash), two children living with their mother, and a widowed grandmother the mother is close to. The father is distant from the older child.
6. Genogram with identical twins and a stillbirth
Identical twin girls drawn from one point with a bar between their lines, a younger brother, and a stillbirth (small square with an X). The mother has depression and is focused on the youngest child; the twins are fused.
7. Divorce and remarriage across two generations
A grandfather who divorced, remarried and had a son in each marriage. Alcohol use repeats from grandfather to father, the father is cut off from the grandfather, and the identified patient is hostile toward his father: a clear cross-generational pattern.
8. Immigrant family genogram
Grandparents and their two children moved from Mexico in 1988, written beside each person. Diabetes runs from grandmother to father. The identified patient, born in the US, is close to her grandmother and in conflict with her father.
9. Foster placement genogram
A child placed with a foster family, shown with both her birth parents (separated, both with substance use) and the foster family she now lives with. The neglect arrow from the birth mother and the close line to the foster mother tell the placement story.
10. Two-mother family genogram
A married couple of two women with a son and an adopted daughter. Same-sex couples are drawn exactly like any other couple: the same partner line, with the children hanging from it.
Make your own from a description
Paste your own case vignette into Genogram Maker and it drafts the genogram for you, using only the facts you give it. Then check it against your notes and adjust anything it misread.