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Genograms

MFT 5104 – Genogram Assignment

Glory Delgado

Northcentral University

April 6, 2019
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2. Genogram Patterns

Based on my genogram showed above, there seems to be a cycle of emotional abuse that

has sort of a trickle-down effect. My maternal grandparents had a tumultuous relationship as my

grandfather loved to drink. He drank so much he died from liver cirrhosis, despite several health

warnings from his doctor. He also died when my mother was 5 years old. My mother also

entered into a mentally abusive relationship. She was with my father for a very long time. He

was the spitting image of what my mother grew up seeing, except my father wasn’t an alcoholic,

he was a drug addict. I do feel that this cycle of emotional abuse caused my brother Edwin and

sister Ivette as well as my brother Luis and sister Yaitza to develop really tight close niche
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bonds. In a sense my brothers always felt the need to be protective over my sisters often times

even fighting with my father due to his behavior around them.

3. Description of your family in terms of the major concepts of the Bowen approach

Triangles/Triangulation-

According to Gehart (2013) the Bowenian concept of triangles/triangulation states that an

individual within the family system is experiencing stress and needs to relieve the stress

through help from a third person. The third person can be a friend, professor, co-worker,

pastor, therapist, sister or brother. There are many triangles in my family. One of them is

my mother, father, grandmother triangle. My mother would reach out my grandmother

whenever my father was stressing her. Another one is my father, sister, brother triangle.

My brother would often times reach out to my sister whenever my father was stressing

him out. Another triangle is my father, sister, and my sister’s boyfriend (at the time)

triangle. My sister would often times rely on her boyfriend when my father would stress

her out. All of my family triangles stem from my father being the point of stress that

someone needing relief from him.

Differentiation of Self-

The Bowenian concept of differentiation of self is being able to detach personal feelings

and thoughts from the family systems normal thoughts (Gehart, 2013). My mother has 5

children and out of all her 5 children I do believe that I am the one who has

developed the differentiation of self. When things happen in my family, I can separate

my thoughts and feelings. I have also adopted some values and beliefs from my family,

but I also have my own separate values and beliefs, however, this doesn’t hinder the

emotional connection and relationship I have with my family. On the contrary, my sisters
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tend to make decision strictly on feelings instead of the logical response needed. My

oldest brother has a hard time separating his feelings from my other brother, he always

looks to family to express how he think about people and situations.

Nuclear Family Emotional System-

Gerhart (2013) explained the nuclear family emotional system is a parent passing on

emotional view to their children or a child within their care. As an example, my mother

never let any of her girls have any type of relationship with boys outside of our family.

We were not allowed to go on dates, have boyfriends or to even go to events that had mix

genders. Her thought process was that she didn’t want any of the girls to get trapped into

having sex and get pregnant. She was very over protective. However, she did allow the

boys to sort of do whatever they wanted.

Family Projection Process-

My mother believed that a woman should be married and be a stay at home mother so

that she can raise her children the way she did with us. My two oldest sisters did indeed

follow this example. Both of them are married and both are stay at home mothers that

care for the family as my mother did. However, this is not what I wanted for myself.

Growing up I remember seeing my mother feeling like she was trapped because she

didn’t work and therefore had no money to leave my father. She relied on him for

everything. She was not independent at all. I didn’t want this for myself. I wanted the

financial freedom to be able to leave a toxic relationship and not be forced to stay

because I was co-dependent. This concept at first was hard for my mother to understand,

however, when my ex-husband cheated on me and I left, she understood my decision. I

remember sitting down with her and telling her “mom this is why I didn’t want to be a
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stay at home wife, because I am now not forced to be in a relationship that is not good for

me”.

Multigenerational Transmission Process-

Multigenerational transmission process occurs over several generations. The family

members that has not acquire a differentiation of self usually have emotional

dysfunctions transmitted through generation (Gehart, 2013). In my family, the

multigenerational transmission process is the verbal abuse. In speaking with my mother,

she advised that not only my grandfather was extremely verbally abusive to my

grandmother, but her grandfather was also extremely abusive to her grandmother as well.

The cycle of abuse has continued from generations. However, as far as I know none of

my siblings have inherited this cycle of abuse. I am hopeful it ended with my parents.

Emotional Cutoff-

Emotional Cutoff refers to the response to The Family Projection Process (Gerhart,

2013). I reached the emotional cutoff phase when I decided that I was no longer going to

entertain the idea that I had to be a stay at home mother. Whenever my mother would

discuss this concept with me, I avoided it like a plague, it even drove a wedge between

us. At one point I stopped all the communication to feel free from her judgmental beliefs.

Now my mother no longer discusses this idea anymore.

Sibling Position-

According to Gerhart (2013) Sibling Position is based on the sibling order, each child has

a position in the family hierarchy. For example, my oldest brother is rebellious always

trying to defy the rules. The burden of being the oldest child and having to fill in my

father’s shoes when my father was arrested seemed to be too much for him sometimes.
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My oldest sister is a natural born caretaker. She was the one who would always take care

of us and watched us when my mother wasn’t able to do so. My middle brother is a

natural born leader, critical thinker and hard worker and my middle sister is more of a

people pleaser always trying to please everyone in her life.

Societal Emotional Process-

Social Emotional process is focused around the social expectations about racial and class

groups, the behaviors for each gender, the nature of sexual orientation and their effect on

the family (Gehart, 2013). I am Puerto Rican. Not only am I Puerto Rican, but I was

raised in one of the worst neighborhoods in Philadelphia where today most of the

children I grew up with are either in jail or dead. Society expected me to be another

statistic. Another Spanish chick living off welfare with 5 kids. However, I decided that I

wanted more for myself. I was the first in my family to attend and graduate from college.

I earned two degrees and started my career 10 years ago to defy all odds.

4. Examples that illustrate that the Bowen Family Therapy is a systems-based approach to
treatment.

The Bowen Family therapy is a systems-based approach because it requires systematic

thinking when dealing with the family as emotional unit. As an example, two brothers that have

an argument and are having some anxiety when they are at family celebrations or gatherings. The

issues that exist between these two brothers have to be corrected to reduce the anxiety, in order

for homeostasis to be reestablish.

5. Identify, and then briefly discuss a problem in the family using Bowen theory.

A problem that has been identified using the Bowen theory is my oldest brother lack of

responsibility with his three children. My oldest brother has three children, none of whom he
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takes care of. All of his children are by different woman and all of the women complain about

how he isn’t a good father. My brother claims that he does the best he can, but we all know it’s a

lie. This in turn causes his children’s mother to harass me and my other siblings for money to

care for my brother’s children. Based on the Bowen approach my brother is creating an

unbalance within the family system. My brother isn’t trying to fix the family system balance with

his current actions. He refuses to pay adequate child support, he doesn’t call his children to speak

to them and he doesn’t see them. In fact, two of his three children don’t even live in the same

state as he does and he uses that as an excuse to not see them or have any communication with

them, but the child that is in his state, he doesn’t see either. This has caused a rift in my family as

my brother often times cuts himself off from us whenever we try to hold him accountable. The

intervention plan for this problem is to assist my brother in having better communication with his

children’s mother. Also having a conversation with my brother to get him to understand that he

needs to develop some sort of relationship with his children. Schedule a date for my brother and

his children’s mother to talk and come up with parenting plans that would allow my brother to be

more involved in his children lives. Also, to encourage my brother to not cut himself off from

family.
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References

Becvar, D. S., & Becvar, R. J. (1999). Systems theory and family therapy: A primer. University
Press of America.

Gehart, D. R. (2013). Mastering competencies in family therapy: A practical approach to theory

and clinical case documentation. Cengage Learning.

Goldberg, H. & Goldberg, I. (1996). Family Therapy, an Overview (4th edition). Pacific Grove:
Brooks/Cole Publishing Company.