Personal Note On Family 's ' Family '

A genogram is more than a family tree. It is a visual interpretation of a family and their relationships. A genogram says a lot about a family. It uses symbols to describe the relationships between family members. One can use a genogram to tell the dynamics of a family. Sometimes, there are patterns that are passed down generation to generation. The purpose of this paper is to go into more detail about what a genogram is and what it means. Also, I have provided a genogram of my family on the last page. I will spend most of the time talking about my family and what our genogram means. Different people in my family have different relationships with one another. There are several characteristics I see that have been passed down.

“Happy or unhappy, families are all mysterious. We have only to imagine how differently we would be described by each family member who believes that they know us” (Steinem). The subject of family is a broad one, as family is a term everyone seems to know, but at the same time, it has a different meaning to all of us; therefore, families are indeed a tricky subject to study. When one thinks of the ideal family, they may imagine a close-knit group of individuals who support, care, and love each other, rather they are blood-related or not. Unfortunately, most individuals don’t experience this as their family life. Until now, I never knew the extent of the hostility and division that various events such as divorce and hospitalizations brought unto my family. While conducting my research, I learned that my family is no outlier, as they have dealt with adultery, abuse, illness, division, and death. Ideally your family defines who you are as a person, but in this paper we are going to look at individuals who never had a steady family life, thus using their own personal experiences to define themselves at a young age. Along with that, we are going to showcase a family that fell apart due to excessive separation and unfaithfulness. In this paper, I will highlight these events while also comparing them with the myriad of data and research that I have learned throughout my time in the Marriage and Families class.

Since I am the index person, this genogram focuses on the “Zupka” family. I am a fifty year old middleclass gay man who lives with his long term partner of seven years, so my contemporary family is my partner Dale and our two cats Necropolis and Pandemonium. Dale has minimal contact with his family and I have no contact with my surviving relatives. I have not met any of Dale’s family nor has he met any of my family. Dale’s family is accepting of his

The genogram analysis was very difficult for me to complete, and I realized I had been avoiding it. However, I am glad I was given the opportunity to analyze my family from two generations as it brought me insight into the family’s dynamic. I also appreciate being able to apply the concepts from Bowen’s Family System’s Theory into my own life, so that it can be better understood.

Genograms are an excellent way to show the multigenerational family as a whole. When looking at a genogram, it is easier to see various pieces of information that exist within the family system. When creating a genogram, it is necessary to obtain a great deal of information to allow for accuracy as well as proficiency within the genogram. Overall, a genogram is helpful to find patterns in the family system, and recognize traits that may have been unknown. Throughout this segment is a personalized summarization of a genogram, an examination of the contemporary family, a

In my family genogram I have included my immediate family which includes my husband and two children. Then from my side of the family I included my mom, father, and my maternal grandparents. I did not include my fraternal grandparents because I do not know them nor do I have any information about them. I also included my husband’s family which consists of his parents, brother, brother’s children with ex-wife, maternal, and paternal grandparents. My brother in law and ex-sister in law have four boys but only three are biological and the oldest is adopted. The two middle boys are fraternal twins. We are close with my husband’s family and we see and talk to them on a regular basis. My in-laws and brother in-law along with my nephews are located

A genogram is a family diagram that can map a family patterns and relationships across at least three generations .It can be used as a way of gathering information and history about a client. It helps to promote further therapist question which helps to direct the gathering of further information. (Dallos, & Draper 2010p.148)

Family dynamics can be comprised by emotional, physical and health patterns. A family can have negative and positive emotional, physical and health functionality. The structured links’ navigate the interactions and commonalities between the family members. The connections are based upon a three generational genogram chart. The genogram begins with the grandparents on the father’s side then connects to the mother’s side of the family. The genogram depicts relational patterns structured with emotional, physical and health components.

There are many aspects of this picture that tell you a story about my family. First, and probably the most obvious, is that we enjoy spending quality time together during sporting events. Whether its a third grade baseball game, high school football game, or a professional NHL game, sports are a way that our family communicates. This picture was during one of the NHL games we went to in Boston. A big part of all my family members childhoods included competitive sports, so its something we all find common ground on. Part of the reason for this is because we are not huge talkers. You will never find my family sitting around chit-chatting for hours, that just isn’t our personality. We talk and communicate better when there is something to watch and engage with. This is especially true with the male figures in my family.

It’s true that a father is a daughter’s best friend and her one and only hero. Well, mine is. Although some things have changed and it’s not like before, I still love my father. There was a tragic event that took place in my family’s life; it affected me and made me a different person after that incident. I have learned that going through hard times makes you stronger, and I want to let people know that giving up should not be an option or choice in our life. I have realized the importance of my family in my life because they are the only ones who are there for us till the end. We all should have a goal in our life because we never know what’s going to happen tomorrow. When we were a child we were not so serious about our life or

My mother died when I was just 3 years old. I do not remember much of her, other than a glimpse of her face, smiling down at me. My father is a distant man. He has never said more than a few words at a time to me, even during our study sessions. He will assign me a lesson, and simply watch as I complete it. My only confidant is Ms. Matilda, the family maid. She takes the time to listen to me.

I am the oldest in my family, but the next child to come into the Jones house would be my sister, Evelyn. She is two years younger than me, and is currently a sophomore. She is a super funny person…if you like sarcasm anyway. She doesn’t really care about a lot of things, but one thing she is very protective over is her long dirty blonde hair. She calls it her “greatest achievement in life.” She cried when my mom made her get a trim before school started back up. She is very dramatic, and at times it is really annoying. But is she really your sister if she doesn’t annoy you majority of the time? **better transitions** I have always been jealous of my sister’s eye color. They are a bright blue and glisten when the sunlight beams into them. She always hooks me up with the best memes, so I got to give her credit for that. She and I are very close, but I mean if we weren’t close, sharing a room would very awkward! I’m totally kidding, Evelyn and I get along very well for being very sarcastic and dramatic people.

My parents were and continued to be excellent examples of compassion and giving. My father went back to school when I was in undergraduate school to pursue his Master’s in Counseling all while continuing to raise my brothers, work a full-time job and be an attentive husband. He has been and continues to be an encouragement and example to me. He felt the need, even after having a successful career as a preacher and missionary, to feel like there was still more he could do educationally so he could help others. I hope to follow in his giant footsteps and be such an example for my son.

As we all know, every relationship is different from the next. They all start at different stages in life, for different reasons, and push forward at different speeds. For this essay, I chose to interview three of my own family members and their spouses to gather the information I needed to thoroughly write this essay. In the process of each interview, it was clear to me that our authors were right; people discover love, they don’t just find it (Lamanna & Riedmann, 2012, p. 142). In other words, finding “the one” doesn’t just happen instantly. Instead, it develops over time and differently than any other couple. To show the truth behind this statement, I’m going to be using different concepts to describe three different couples’ stories and reasons behind choosing the partners they chose. I will also be comparing and contrasting the three couples and offering my personal opinions.

Have you ever wanted something so bad and then once you got it, you realize it was not all that it was cracked up to be? When I was little, I wanted what every other little kid wanted, a sibling. I wanted a little brother to be exact. That is what I asked for every birthday and every Christmas, thinking my parents could just go to the store and buy one. Finally, one Christmas, my wish came true.