The genogram makes the universal principle of duality visible in the dimension of existence, "time." Human beings appear through their many ancestors in the human family, represented in the genogram. Creating a genogram (an extended family tree) is helpful when relationships with oneself—that is, one's place in life and in the world—and relationships with family members and other people are experienced as painful, for example, by exhibiting recurring patterns instead of serving the healthy development of conscious being. The work involved in creating the genogram is very valuable. A first glance at the overall picture often reveals a central theme. Both the horizontal level of a family system and the vertical, transgenerational level with all ancestors are considered. Living and deceased relatives are entered equally and thus made "present." This is a significant first step in bringing all members of the system into awareness (e.g., those excluded, those kept secret). Usually, this initial engagement with data and facts already has a "healing" effect on the person seeking guidance. Within the family, this often leads to the re-establishment of broken "family ties," the clarification and resolution of misunderstandings. Complicated kinship relationships are named and thereby clarified. By assigning each person their precise place within this coordinate system, connections and recurring patterns become apparent that were previously unknown or only vaguely perceptible. Clarity follows clarification. Genogram work helps with:
Approaching difficult issues
Grasping the system at a glance and engaging with the details/people
Reorganizing and reorienting perception and experience
Taking one's own clearly defined place within the system
Locating "disturbances and illnesses" originating from the system
Identifying turning points in life and their impact (early death, divorces, separations, illnesses, loss of home, functional impairments). Losses/disruptions/breakdowns in the family system are the starting point for tasks that other people within the family system take on vicariously. These so-called substitute roles are subject to orders empirically established through the analysis of numerous family histories: so-called "orders of substitute representation." Losses represent breaks in the flow of life and may trigger compensatory movements. These come too late, are therefore bound to fail, and lead to painful repetitions that serve as reminders of the past fate without being able to reverse it or prevent it in the future. Compensation here means: A later person "represents" an earlier one.
