Family Genogram Project

Document Two: Family Genogram Paper

This document must be completed and uploaded as a Microsoft Word document.

Paper is to be 5-6 pages, not including the title page and reference page.

Include title page and reference page. Abstract is not required.

All formatting is to be in APA 7th edition style.

You may use first person narrative in this paper as it is a self-reflection.

Required Content:

Title Page

Introductory Paragraph: Provide a brief paragraph that introduces the reader to the rationale and content of the paper.

Family Overview: Provide an overview of significant patterns and themes from your family genogram. You should be noting important themes that will be explored in more depth in the rest of the paper, including sociopolitical, cultural, race/ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic, spiritual, family life cycle, and notable patterns and influences across and from previous generations. Integrate sources from the course readings to support the types of themes and patterns you are noting in these areas. Describe an addiction, substance use or family habit history. This overview should match and add depth when viewing the constructed genogram.

Describe Yourself and Your Immediate Family: Immediate family is this situation means those with whom you currently reside or interact with daily. This includes spouse, partner, children, parents, etc. It depends on your situation and those with whom you interact daily that are part of your family genogram. Describe who you are in terms of strengths, habits or substance use/addiction, and social and emotional relationship patterns. Describe where you are in your family life cycle. Include any pertinent sociopolitical, cultural, race/ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic, and/or spiritual aspects of who you are. This immediate family is symbolized by drawing a circle around this family on the genogram. Your immediate family description should match what you represented in the constructed genogram. See the example in the McGoldrick text.

Interpretation: Analyze the genogram and who you are in the context of the three generations of your family history based on the patterns and themes you noted of importance in the areas of sociopolitical, cultural, race/ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic, spiritual, family life cycle, and notable patterns and influences across and from previous generations. Integrate sources from the course materials that support your interpretation of how your familys history led to the development of who you are as a person. Analyze the genogram according to multi-generational patterns, issues, and themes, such as repetitive symptom(s), relationship, or functioning patterns that are seen over generations. Thus, you ought to examine the genogram for repeated triangles, coalitions, cut-offs, patterns of conflict, over-and under-functioning, etc. Use concepts from the course materials to support what you are observing in your family. Here are some questions to stimulate your critical analysis: How did your family history lead to who you are and how you interact with your immediate family? What do you understand about yourself within the context of this multigenerational family? How do the cultural, historical, and personal characteristic aspects of the information impact your understanding of the self? What are the family lifecycle-related issues in the past or present that have influenced your family in the past or present? What intergenerational dynamics, patterns and/or themes that you have identified influence you (or others) in your current family?

Current Strengths and Future Growth: Identify what patterns and strengths you have kept from your family history and which ones you would like to change. In what areas can you improve to become a better spouse, partner, daughter, sister, parent, counselor, godly person, etc. Apply ways to improve at least one relationship within your immediate family. For example, if you mostly interact with your sister and noted your sister as your immediate family, then talk about how you can be a better sister. You can also talk about being a better person in general in this section. Make sure you include two strengths and two areas to improve. You must also include strengths and ways to improve your spirituality and faith. There would be three total strengths (one spirituality/faith) and three total ways to improve at a minimum.

Application of Family Therapy Techniques: Identify, support with a source, and describe two family therapy techniques or interventions you might use if you were counseling you within your immediate family. Give a rationale as to why. You cannot say to construct a genogram. You have already constructed the genogram. Give a rationale of the technique or intervention you chose based upon the genogram and interpretation.

Impact of Family Genogram Project: Describe how this project impacted your growth as a person and as a counselor. Were there any issues that came to light? What did you learn? How might you use genograms as an addiction counselor?

Conclusion: Give a brief concluding paragraph that summarizes the main content of the paper.