Genograms in psychology and counseling
This page shows a psychology genogram of the Lindgren family over three generations around Hanna, 17, who has had panic attacks since 2025. Emotional cutoff, fusion and the family projection process are drawn with standard relationship lines. Six lines for family systems work and two common mistakes are shown after the genogram.
Updated October 2026Based on McGoldrick et al., Genograms: Assessment and Treatment (4th ed., 2020)
Cite this diagram
Genogram Pro. (2026, October 23). Genograms in psychology and counseling [Diagram]. https://genogrampro.com/genogram-for-psychology-students
Used by students at
- University College London
- Montclair State University
- Boston College
- Lancaster University
- Louisiana State University
- NC State University
- San Diego State University
- University of Hawaii
- Indiana University
Three generations
Hanna's grandparents on both sides are on the top row, with an X through Ingrid Lindgren's circle for her death in 2019.
Emotional cutoff
Lars and his son Erik are drawn with a dashed red cutoff line crossed by two bars, and the note under Erik is "No contact since 2005".
Fusion
Sofia and her mother Rosa Costa are drawn with three parallel red lines for a fused relationship.
Family projection
A gray arrow is drawn from Sofia to Hanna because Sofia's anxiety is focused on her daughter.
Index person
Hanna, the index person, has a yellow outline, a teal anxiety quarter and the note "Panic attacks since 2025".
What a genogram shows in psychology
In psychology and counseling, a genogram is a diagram of a client's family over at least three generations, drawn in standard genogram symbols, with lines for partnerships and children and other lines for how close, distant or conflicted people are. Many of the patterns a genogram is read for, such as triangles, emotional cutoff and fusion, are concepts from Bowen family systems theory. How counselors use genograms with clients is described in the guide to genograms in therapy.
The Lindgren genogram is drawn for Hanna Lindgren, the index person. Her father Erik has had no contact with his own father Lars since 2005, and her mother Sofia is fused with her own mother, Rosa Costa. Erik and Sofia are drawn with a distant line, and Sofia's anxiety is focused on Hanna. Each pattern is explained on the Bowen genogram example page.
Relationship lines for family systems work
Genogram Pro has 39 relationship line types, and six of them, for closeness, distance, conflict, cutoff, fusion and focus, are shown below. A triangle is drawn with three of these lines between three people, as in the triangulation genogram example.
Very close
A deep friendship with unusual trust and understanding.
Distant
The two see little of each other and rarely talk.
Hostile
Frequent arguments over major issues, and tension whenever they are together.
Cutoff
All contact has stopped after a closer relationship.
Fused
An enmeshed, dependent tie in which neither person has much separate identity.
Focused on
An unhealthy focus such as favoritism or obsession, with the arrow pointing to its target.
Fusion repeated across two generations is drawn in the enmeshment genogram example, and cutoffs in more than one generation are drawn in the estrangement genogram example.
For psychology and counseling students
You can open the free genogram maker in the browser with nothing to install and no account. Your genogram is saved in that browser, and its PNG and PDF exports have a small Genogram Pro badge.
The Professional plan is paid and has a 7-day trial. With it, your genograms are encrypted and saved to your account, exports have no badge, and a genogram can be drafted by the AI assistant from a paragraph about a family for you to refine. Students at participating schools can get the Professional plan at no cost for a year. Sign up with your school email.
Two common mistakes
Draw the cutoff between Lars and Erik
The child line means only that Erik is Lars and Ingrid's son, so draw a cutoff line between Lars and Erik and write "No contact since 2005" in a note under Erik.
Point the arrow at the child
The arrow points from the parent whose anxiety is focused to the child it is focused on, so an arrow drawn from Hanna to Sofia would mean that Hanna's anxiety is focused on her mother.
Drawing a genogram for family systems work
The relationship lines are listed in groups such as Neutral, Disconnection and Conflict, and you can search the list by name for a cutoff, a fused line or a focused-on arrow.
Draw a relationship line from one person to another, then add a condition such as Anxiety or Depression. A quarter of the person's symbol is filled in the condition's color, so the relationships and the symptoms are drawn on one genogram.
When you export a PNG or PDF, a key is added with only the symbols and lines on the genogram, so a reader can tell a cutoff line from a distant one.
Questions people ask
What is a genogram in psychology?
In psychology and counseling, a genogram is a family diagram over at least three generations that is drawn with the client and read for patterns that repeat from one generation to the next, such as cutoff, fusion and triangles.
What is a genogram?Which notation does Genogram Pro use?
Genograms in Genogram Pro are drawn in standard McGoldrick notation, as set out in Genograms: Assessment and Treatment by McGoldrick and colleagues. The notation includes relationship lines for closeness, distance, conflict, cutoff, fusion and other patterns.
Genogram relationship linesCan a genogram show Bowen concepts such as cutoff and fusion?
Yes. Emotional cutoff, fusion and the family projection process each have their own line, sibling position follows from birth order, and a triangle is drawn with three relationship lines between three people. Differentiation of self has no symbol, but it can be read in the fused and cutoff lines.
Bowen family systems theoryIs Genogram Pro free for psychology students?
The free genogram maker needs no account, and its PNG and PDF exports have a small Genogram Pro badge. The Professional plan is paid and has a 7-day trial, and students at participating schools can get it at no cost for a year. Sign up with your school email.
Can the AI build a genogram from my notes?
Yes, with the Professional plan or its 7-day trial. Type or paste a paragraph about the family, and the people and relationship lines are drafted by the AI assistant for you to check and correct on the canvas.
Start a family systems genogram from the Lindgren family
Open it in the editor, swap in your own names and dates, and export it as a PNG or PDF.