1. Presentation by Wendy Bilgen MSSA,LMSW

2.  You will meet me through my genogram  You will understand how the genogram adds to a multi systemic approach  You will become comfortable with the genogram as a tool  You will begin to ‘map’ your own story through using the genogram  You will have a head start on completing the genogram assignment

3. Me Haluk Caleb Ben

4. My family system Words of Hope Supporting Churches Empty nest Navigatine US and Turkish systems Health care, insurance,tax laws, licensing etc… Christian Counseling Center Eastern University in Philadelphia, Cornerstone Calvin College Turkey Ministries (church, radio, university, expat community, school ….)

5. Writer Chaim Potok says “All of us have a story and it's what holds life together. Sometimes we begin the serious process of rewriting at certain points in our lives. A person who doesn't have a narrative is a sorry person indeed. They have no map. They are stumbling around, and they are terrified” (Interview from Mars Hill Review)

6.  Genogram  Ecomap  Timelines  Behavior sequencing All add value to gaining a ecological systems perspective

8.  It helps clients to understand where they’ve been and where they’re going  It helps enable seeing the big picture (family structure, patterns of interaction, biological/genetic, illness, culture) and where the strengths and weaknesses lie  It show the family system through time  It enables an individual to step out of the system, examine it, and gain insight into complex family dynamics that have developed over time and how they affect the current situation

9. This is NOT simply a family tree but a MAP of patterns and a helpful way to get clients to tell their family story including all the important detail that people tend to leave out!

10. Base on the assumption within the multi systemic approach that the family is the most influential system to which we belong. Constructing a genogram with the client is a powerful way of establishing a therapeutic relationship while exploring the graphic representation of complex family patterns, where one is positioned in the family system and where areas of missing information, potential problems, and helping the to create their own family narrative.

11. Genogram : A genogram, like a family tree, is a pictorial display of a person's family relationships that shows at least three generations. It provides a structure for collecting and “storing” family information. It enables you to visualize factors that punctuate relationships and can be used to identify repetitive patterns of behavior and to recognize tendencies and issues impacting present relationships. It also reveals other family stressors such as divorce, alcoholism, frequent moves, broken communication, distance between members etc... and how those in your family have chosen to handle these in past. The genogram process can help forge a way forward toward new ways of being in relationship. The assignment is to design your family genogram. Use the following guidelines to help you do this. There is no “right” way to construct a genogram. Each person’s genogram will be a unique picture of relational issues at work in your family of origin. Suggestion for how to create a Genogram: 1. Use Squares for Males, Circles for Females, Triangles for Unborn Children, Miscarriages & Abortions. Connect family members with varying kinds of lines indicating relationships. 2. You can begin at the bottom with yourself and work upwards to three generations 3. Give as much information as you can provide: birthdays, dates of marriages, divorces or deaths, estrangement, suicide etc.. 4. Include themes and family patterns: strength/weakness in relationships, drug/alcohol dependency, violence, immigrations, country of origin, mental health, physical health etc. 5. Use a “key” to draw in symbols that indicate relational patterns (i.e. broken line between people for broken or tenuous relationship, solid thick line between people for strong or enmeshed patterns etc...). 6. Also look for strengths: lasting marriages, education and cultural ties, areas of gifting, ways people have overcome etc... 7. Include family mottos and who said them (i.e. "children are better seen than heard", "blood is thicker than water", "real men don't cry"etc...) 8. Note any themes you see surfacing (division, lying, over-protecting, favoritism, family secrets, etc....) Answer these two questions: What aspects of your genogram do you want to hold onto and cherish? What aspects of you genogram do you want to leave behind?

15. Following Genogram workbook  Mechanics  Using questions to go deeper  Interpretation

16.  Gather what you know surrounding at least three generations  Look for gaps in information and make a plan to fill in dates, names, illness. Dates suggest important nodal events, sequences and patterns  Make early contact, be curious and use caution  Take on a ‘research project’ mentality with an alternating emic and etic (insider and outsider) view

17.  Beyond the pictorial display is meaning  Pursuing the ‘uncomfortable’  Look for clues: dates (nodal events) gender (roles, sexuality) secrets (‘you’re only as sick as your secrets’) losses ( critical illness, disability, job…) themes (mottos, myths, etc…) culture (ceremony, race, religious practice…) boundaries

18.  It may look like a jumble of lines, numbers and words  Using the 20 questions to ‘unjumble’  Making sense of what’s in front of you

23.  Take 15 minutes to construct a brief skeleton of your genogram (15 min.)  Identify one theme you see emerging through this brief exploration  Choose one question from Appendix C in A Family Genogram Workbook to guide you as you ‘go deeper’ right now