Detailed Genogram Example ​

A detailed genogram adds the annotation a basic genogram leaves out: diagnosis dates, death years, relationship lines for significant connections, and life events in sequence. The goal is that someone can read the diagram without follow-up explanation and still understand the family clearly.

Example 1 - Detailed Medical Genogram: The Sutton Family ​

Detailed Medical Genogram: The Sutton Family Genogram Example

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The family:

• Rachel Sutton, 24, is the primary person. She is attending a GP appointment for a family history review. She is currently healthy with no diagnosed conditions.
• Rachel's parents: David Sutton, 47 (elevated PSA, under monitoring since 2023) and Carol Sutton (née Haines), 44.
• Rachel has one sibling: Paul Sutton, 21.
• Paternal grandparents: Edward Sutton (deceased, 2018, colon cancer, age 69) and Margaret Sutton, 71 (type 2 diabetes, diagnosed 2015, managed with medication).
• David has one sibling: his sister Lynn, 43 (breast cancer, diagnosed 2022, treated, currently in remission).
• Maternal grandparents: Gerald Haines (deceased, 2021, heart disease, age 74) and Vera Haines, 72 (hypertension, high cholesterol, both diagnosed and managed).

What you can now see:

• Edward's colon cancer sits in the top-left corner of the diagram. David's elevated PSA sits one row below it, on the same side. Two generations of the same family line and a related system. Edward's diagnosis became fatal at 68; David is 47 and already under monitoring. The genogram puts those two facts in the same visual column.
• Lynn's breast cancer appears beside David on the paternal row. Colon cancer, breast cancer, and elevated PSA all appear on the paternal side within two generations.
• On the maternal side: heart disease in Gerald, hypertension and high cholesterol in Vera.
• Rachel, 24, sits at the bottom of all of this. She is the reason the genogram was built (the primary person). Her symbol is empty, no conditions noted, but the diagram shows a GP exactly what to track and when to start.
• Margaret's diabetes and Vera's hypertension appear in the grandparent row on separate sides. Both are metabolic, currently managed and are relevant to Rachel and Paul in twenty years. They are on the diagram now.

Example 2 - Detailed Therapeutic Genogram: The Vance Family ​

Detailed Therapeutic Genogram: The Vance Family Genogram Example

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The family:

• Claire Marsh (née Vance), 48, is the primary person. She is beginning therapy following increasing family tension since her father's remarriage.
• Claire is married to Owen Marsh, 50. They have two children: Nat, 19, and Bea, 15. Close line between Claire and Owen.
• Claire's father: Bernard Vance, 74. Close line between Bernard and Claire. Bernard's first wife (Claire’s mother), Marion Vance (deceased, 2020, dementia, age 71). Bernard remarried Sandra Cole, 63, in 2021.
• Claire's brother: Peter Vance, 45. Cutoff from Claire since 2022. Conflict line with Sandra. Married to Kim Vance (née Park), 43. Their child: Leo, 14.
• Owen and Bernard: close line.
• Life events noted with dates: Marion's death, 2020. Bernard and Sandra's marriage, 2021. Peter and Claire's estrangement, 2022.

What you can now see:

• Marion's death (2020), Bernard's remarriage (2021), and Peter's estrangement from Claire (2022) are three events on the same diagram with three consecutive dates. Without the dates they look like separate, unrelated facts. With them, the sequence is visible: each event followed the previous one within a year. A therapist reading this genogram before the first session already knows the order things happened in.
• Claire's close line to Bernard and her cutoff line to Peter appear side by side. She maintained one relationship in the family and lost another at the same time, with the same event as the trigger.
• Owen's close line to Bernard is drawn between a son-in-law and a widowed father-in-law who has since remarried. That relationship runs alongside Claire's close line to her father and Claire's cutoff line to her brother. The three lines together describe a family subsystem that a verbal summary would take several minutes to explain.
• Nat, Bea and Leo are first cousins with no relationship line between them. The absence of that line is the annotation; they don't have a relationship because their parents stopped speaking when Leo was 11. The diagram shows what the estrangement cost the next generation without stating it.

What Makes a Genogram "Detailed" ​

A detailed genogram is not just a bigger diagram. The difference is annotation depth:

• Every person has a name, age, and any relevant health condition or life event noted beside their symbol.
• Health conditions include diagnosis year and current status where known, not just the condition name.
• Life events have dates; deaths, marriages, divorces, estrangements, diagnoses.
• Relationship lines are drawn for every significant connection, not just the ones that are easy to map.
• The diagram can be read by someone who has never met the family and still get an accurate picture.

A basic genogram establishes who is in the family. A detailed genogram documents what is happening in it. For a reference on what symbols carry the annotation, see the genogram symbols guide.

When You Need This Level of Detail ​

• Medical referrals and genetic counseling: a GP, specialist, or genetic counselor needs complete multi-generational health history, not just any type of summary.
• Therapy intake: a therapist building a picture of the family system before sessions begin needs relationship lines and life event sequences.
• Academic assignments requiring full annotation: most advanced coursework in social work, nursing, and psychology specifies annotated genograms.
• When a partial genogram has created confusion: if an earlier, less complete genogram missed something significant, a detailed rebuild clarifies it.

When Less Detail Is Better ​

Adding detail to a genogram that doesn't need it makes it harder to read, not more complete. If the goal is to establish household structure quickly, start with the basic genogram example. If the family has multiple overlapping types of complexity, see the complex genogram example.

How to Build a Detailed Genogram ​

Open either example above in EasyGenogram and replace the details with your own, or start from scratch. For a full walkthrough, see how to make a genogram.

1. Build the structure first: place all family members, marriages, and sibling lines before adding any annotation. A cluttered structure is harder to annotate accurately.
2. Add health conditions and dates: go through each person and note any conditions, diagnoses, and causes of death. Include the year wherever you have it.
3. Add life events in sequence: note significant events with dates: deaths, divorces, remarriages, estrangements. The sequence matters as much as the events.
4. Add relationship lines: map every significant relationship with the appropriate line type. In a detailed genogram, this means more than one or two lines.
5. Check the legend: a detailed genogram uses more symbol types than a basic one. Make sure the legend accounts for every line and marker on the diagram.
6. Export: download as PDF or PNG when done.

Related ​

• Basic Genogram Example
• Complex Genogram Example
• 3-Generation Genogram Example
• Family Genogram Example
• Genogram for Social Work Assessment
• How to Make a Genogram