Rules to Build Genograms

Although there is general agreement on the basic genogram structure and symbols, there are some variations from one author to another. Some authors do reuse the same symbol for different situations while others have ignored such special cases. GenoPro did a meticulous research to determine what symbols and rules are best to create coherent genograms.

If you understand the following rules, you will be able create the most complex genogram without any problem... and others will be able to understand your work.

Basic Genogram Symbols



The male is noted by a square and the female by a circle. A family is shown by an horizontal line connecting the two.

The children are placed below the family line from the oldest to the youngest, left to right. Although this may sound obvious, it will be very important to remember these rules when the situation becomes a bit more complex.

The following case is a husband with three spouses. The husband had three children with the first wife, then divorced. The husband married the second wife, had one child and separated. The husband currently lives with another woman. As you can see, the oldest child is at the left, and the youngest child, "Half Sister", is at the right of her family, as she is the only child of the husband and the second wife.

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