Genogram Maker
Genogram symbols

Cutoff Symbol in a Genogram

An emotional cutoff, where two family members have stopped all contact, is drawn as a line between them broken in the middle by two short perpendicular bars. A distant relationship, with little but some contact, is a dotted line instead.

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Fig. 1 — Cutoff exampleOpen in Genogram Maker
  • Cutoff
  • Distant

What it means

  • Cutoff is one of the core Bowen family systems concepts.
  • It is drawn between the two people, not on the partner or child line.

Compared with similar symbols

DistantDotted line: some contact, little closeness.
CutoffBroken line with two bars: no contact.

When to use it

  • Estrangements between parents and adult children, siblings or whole branches of the family.

Common mistakes

  • Using cutoff for a merely distant relationship.
  • Drawing it on the marriage line instead of as a separate emotional line.

Genogram Maker draws this symbol for you and adds it to the key automatically. Open the example above and edit it.