Basic Family Structure
Shows the main family members and relationships in this example.
Basic Family Genogram
Family Relationship Lines
Connects couples, parents, children, and siblings in a readable layout.
Generational Context
Places relatives across generations so patterns are easier to see.
Household Details
Leaves room for names, roles, dates, and family notes.
Relationship Status
Supports markers for marriage, separation, loss, conflict, or support.
Case Context
Keeps the visual focused on the family story shown in the hero image.
Review Ready View
Helps teams discuss the same structure before adding deeper notes.
Editable Family Map
Can be extended as new relatives or relationship details are added.
Map an extended family across five generations, including relatives, marriages, in-laws, children, and deceased family members.
About the Basic Family Genogram
This basic family genogram maps 17 relatives across five generational levels using standard person, marriage, descent, and deceased notation.
The example extends from great-grandparents to children. Between those levels, it includes grandparents, a mother and father, an uncle, an aunt and her partner, the person labeled “Me” and her husband, a sister and brother-in-law, and a male cousin. Six people are marked as deceased with an X.
Although the example is called “basic,” its size is not minimal. The name is better understood as referring to its use of structural family notation without added emotional, medical, cultural, or social-work details. Families and practitioners can replace the role labels and simplify or expand the branches as needed.
- Shows five generational levels in one extended-family structure
- Includes direct relatives, spouses, an in-law, a partner, and a cousin
- Uses marriage, descent, and deceased notation without specialized clinical markers
- Provides a detailed base that can be simplified or enriched for the intended use
Who Should Use This Example?
This basic family genogram example helps professionals, learners, and families organize an extended family across several generations in one clear view.
Therapists and counselors
Establish the extended family structure before adding relationship or clinical context
Social workers and care teams
Document relatives, spouses, in-laws, and caregiving connections for shared case discussions
Students and educators
Practice structural notation across a larger multigenerational family example
Individuals and families
Create a visual record of relatives and relationships that can be refined together
Symbols Used in This Genogram
These six notation types form the visible structure of the example. The varied fill colors are not explained by a legend, so they should not be interpreted as medical, emotional, cultural, or generational data unless a color key is added.
Square
Represents a male family member
Circle
Represents a female family member
Marriage line
Connects the five visibly labeled married couples
Parent-child line
Connects a parent or parental unit to a child
Deceased marker
Uses an X over a person's symbol to indicate that they are deceased
Sibling branch
Connects people who share the same parent or parental unit
Role label
Identifies a person's place in the example, such as Mother, Uncle, Me, or Child
When to Use This Example
Use this Basic Family Genogram when you need an extended structural example that reaches from great-grandparents to children. Remove unnecessary branches if the intended discussion or assessment requires a smaller scope.
- Families mapping direct and extended relatives across several generations.
- Family therapy or counseling intake that needs more than an immediate-household view.
- Social work conversations involving spouses, in-laws, cousins, and earlier generations.
- Structural case review before emotional, medical, cultural, or social details are added.
How to Customize This Genogram
- 1
Confirm the focal person and scope
Decide who “Me” represents and whether all five generational levels are needed. Remove branches that do not support the purpose of the family map.
- 2
Replace the generational role labels
Add names or consistent family roles for the great-grandparents, grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, siblings, cousin, spouses, in-law, and children. Use “Great-Grandfather,” “Great-Grandmother,” and “Male cousin” or “Cousin” instead of the draft's unclear labels.
- 3
Verify marriages and descent lines
Confirm that each of the five visible marriage lines and every parent-child or sibling branch connects the correct people. Add or change relationship types where the real family structure differs.
- 4
Confirm deceased markers and colors
Keep an X only for people who are deceased, including the focal person if that is intentional. Remove decorative colors or add a clear legend before using color to communicate information.
Creately Clinical Capabilities for This Example
Creately Clinical supports extended family mapping with clinical notation, fast relative creation, automatic layout, structured fields, and collaborative review.
For this example, the Base field pack and standard genogram view provide the clearest starting point. Quick-add shortcuts create a person and relationship together, while background layout processing helps keep a larger multigenerational map readable as branches expand.
- Relevant field pack: the Base field pack, with other packs available when the map needs clinical or professional detail.
- Best-fit view mode: the standard genogram view.
- AI support: text-to-genogram drafting from family summaries and relationship suggestions for review.
- Collaboration support: real-time co-editing, role-based sharing, comments, and auto-save.
- Reporting and export: PDF, DOCX, PNG, JPEG, SVG, or JSON outputs for discussion, documentation, and reuse.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is this called a basic genogram if it has five generational levels?
“Basic” describes the type of information shown rather than the size of the diagram. The example uses family roles, marriages, descent lines, sibling branches, and deceased markers without adding specialized clinical data.
How is a basic genogram different from a family tree?
A family tree primarily records ancestry and lineage. A genogram can also show different relationship types, emotional dynamics, health history, significant events, and other patterns as the diagram develops.
Do the different colors have a defined meaning?
Not in the supplied image. No color legend is provided, so the colors should be treated as decorative until a clear meaning is assigned. Do not infer health, relationship, identity, or generational information from them.
What labels should be corrected before using the example?
Change “Grand Great Father” to “Great-Grandfather,” “Grand Grand Mother” to “Great-Grandmother,” and “Cousin brother” to “Male cousin” or simply “Cousin.” Also confirm whether the X over “Me” is intentional.
Start in Creately Clinical, then deepen the case view
Edit the genogram, identify the focal person, and replace the placeholder roles with the correct family members. Verify every marriage, descent line, and deceased marker before adding further context in Creately.