ABSTRACT
This chapter talks about the family dimension in patients' narratives. It looks at conversations about the family when there is only one patient in the room and discusses conversations with two or more family members at the same time. For most patients, families play a central part in how they understand and experience their problems. Enquiry into the family dimension of people's lives is an essential part of a narrative approach. There are specific techniques for bringing the family into patients' narratives, including circular questions and the use of geneograms. Taking geneograms is not a formidable exercise. It can be short, simple and highly effective. Practitioners can easily adopt it as a routine narrative tool. Primary care offers enormous scope for working with families, whether the problem is an individual one or a shared family one. Such work can be brief and integrated with everyday care.
