hat informs the therapist about how the individual family members relate to each other. For example, Jeff's negative feelings towards Roger's mother and the fact that she abandoned Roger can be graphically represented in the genogram. Moreover, Jeff's relation to Sherry would be represented in the genogram and the therapist might through the assessment that creates the genogram also be able to find out how Roger relates to Sherry, whether he considers her a mother figure, or whether he has positive or negative feelings towards her (McGoldrick, et al., 2008). Because Roger's mother is estranged and Roger's change in behavior appears to be correlating with the fact that Jeff started to date Sherry, the genogram approach appears to be particularly useful in the case under consideration and provides a number of additional benefits that will be detailed below.
One of the advantages of the genogram is that it allows for a systematic assessment and representation of various relationships within the family system. Color-coded symbols and lines allow categorizing relationships. A genogram can be used to distinguish between familial (genetic) relationships, emotional relationships, and social relationships. These differentiations are
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