Genogram symbols and their meanings
This reference shows each symbol and line that Genogram Builder draws, together with its meaning in the standard genogram notation.
Genogram Builder follows the notation described by McGoldrick, Gerson and Petry (2020). Every symbol in this reference is drawn by the editor’s own renderer, in the same form as in the key on the canvas. Of the 74 entries, 15 are conventions of Genogram Builder and are not part of the published notation. They include the dashed line to a step-child, the red zigzag for a non-consensual incident, the outlines for a temporary arrangement and for a highlight, and the couple statuses that the editor distinguishes beyond those of the book, such as an engagement, a legal separation or an annulment. Each of them is marked Genogram Builder convention, and if you use one in submitted work, you should state that it is an addition.
Other genogram programs sometimes draw the same facts in different ways. In this editor, an adoption is drawn as a solid and a dotted line in parallel, a household as a dotted outline and a non-binary person as an arched shape. A chart made with another program should therefore be read with that program’s own key.
People13
Pregnancy and loss4
Couple relationships18
Children and twins11
Emotional relationships15
Health9
Groups4
Procedure
- 1
Type a name, a meaning or a description of the appearance in the search field above the symbols, or select one of the categories beneath it.
- 2
Click a symbol to show it in a small family, together with its definition, the procedure for drawing it and the symbols with which it is often confused.
- 3
Use the arrow keys to move from one symbol to the next, and press / to return to the search field.
- 4
Click Copy link to copy an address that opens the reference at the same symbol.
- 5
In the key on the canvas, click Explain to show the first sentence of each definition beside the entries for your own chart.
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