ABSTRACT
One very common technique of family therapists is to construct a family tree or genogram with the family in the ®rst session (McGoldrick et al. 1999). A genogram is a pictorial representation of the family's history through the generations with the dates of important events included. Although this sounds like `just' a family tree, of the sort that children draw in school, it is much more. It provides the therapist with a way of gathering historical and emotional information about the family. It also allows the family to see a pictorial representation of themselves as a whole.
