Genogram symbols

Identified Patient Symbol in a Genogram

The identified patient, the person the genogram is about (the client, or you in a family-of-origin paper), is drawn with a double outline: a square or circle inside a second square or circle. Mark only one person this way.

Father52Mother49Me22Brother19
Fig. 1 — Identified patient exampleOpen in Genogram Maker
  • Identified patient

What it means

  • It tells the reader whose perspective the genogram is drawn from.
  • Everyone else’s relationships are usually described in relation to this person.

When to use it

  • Every clinical and assignment genogram.

Common mistakes

  • Marking two people as identified patients.
  • Forgetting to mark anyone.

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