Genogram Symbols Reference: Standard Symbols for Family Structure and Bonds
This genogram symbols reference is a printable key for drawing family members, connections, and emotional bonds. Use it to label a family map clearly and explain the notation you choose.
Reviewed by Michael Callans, MSW 
About this tool
A genogram symbols reference explains the shapes and lines used to map family members, family structure, and emotional relationships. It helps you label a family diagram clearly so another reader can distinguish a partnership, a parent-child connection, and a reported pattern of closeness or conflict. A genogram extends a family tree by adding relevant relationship history, health information, and significant events. It can organize questions about family life, while the meaning of a pattern still depends on context and the accounts of the people involved.
The conventions most clinicians use come from the standardization led by Monica McGoldrick and colleagues. Structural symbols cover the basics: squares for males, circles for females, a diamond where gender is unspecified, with birth and death dates noted and an X marking a deceased member. Lines connect partners and descend to children, with specific notation for marriage, separation, divorce, cohabitation, pregnancy, miscarriage, and adoption.
Layered on top of structure are the emotional relationship lines, which are where a genogram earns its clinical value. Different line styles indicate close, distant, conflictual, cutoff, enmeshed, or fused relationships, and additional notation can flag substance use, mental health conditions, abuse, or other significant patterns. Reading these layers together often reveals intergenerational themes a client has never named out loud.
Use this reference to keep your notation consistent and legible. When you build a genogram with a client, mapping can provide a shared focus for discussing patterns, strengths, and resources alongside difficulties. The conventions described by McGoldrick and colleagues are a clinical framework for organizing family information. They do not turn a diagram into a validated psychological test, and this symbol key has no diagnostic score or established treatment outcome.
Clinicians may introduce a genogram when family history is relevant to family, couples, or individual work, using the diagram to organize an intake conversation and identify questions for later discussion. There is no required appointment at which to complete it. If you are drawing your own family's genogram and patterns of conflict, cutoff, or repeated loss surface, a therapist who specializes in family systems work can help you consider what they mean in context. The Psychology.com therapist directory lets you search for one by specialty and location.
Read structural connections before interpreting emotional lines. A line linking partners describes a family connection; an additional line describing conflict records a different kind of information. Someone can remain married while describing emotional distance, or report affection alongside conflict. Write whose account the emotional description reflects and the date it was discussed. This keeps a relationship label from appearing to be a permanent, universally agreed fact. For example, if you report feeling close to a sibling who describes the relationship as distant, add those accounts as separate notes. Avoid combining them into a single label that neither person recognizes. When a relationship changes, date the new description so readers can distinguish the current account from earlier history.
Leave unknown information visible. Write unknown or unconfirmed beside missing details instead of inferring a death, diagnosis, biological relationship, or estrangement. If relatives give different accounts, record that difference without deciding which story is true from the diagram alone. Ask permission before seeking sensitive information, and avoid contacting an estranged relative solely to fill a gap in the family map.
Adapt notation respectfully for gender identity, chosen family, adoption, foster care, and other family arrangements. Explain your labels in the legend and use the person's own description where it is known and appropriate to include. This simplified key groups some categories together; a brief written annotation can distinguish the specific relationship or event. Check the notation required by your training program or clinical setting when preparing a formal record. When labeling adoption or foster care, state which connection the line represents rather than asking the line style to carry all the detail. Where relevant and known, distinguish a biological relationship, a legal relationship, and the person who provided day-to-day care. Include the details needed for the purpose of the map, with sensitive background information kept to that scope.
A medical pedigree emphasizes biological relationships and health history, while a relational genogram can also show emotional ties and social family roles. The American Family Physician review describes how a family pedigree informs clinical questions about hereditary risk. A repeated condition on your drawing does not establish inheritance or predict that you will develop it. Bring relevant health history to a qualified clinician instead of assigning diagnostic labels to relatives.
Use the Genogram Maker to organize the family map and the Communication Skills collection when you want help preparing a respectful conversation about it. The Attachment Styles Test can support personal reflection on relationship tendencies, but its results should not be used to label relatives on the diagram. Keep copies containing sensitive family details secure, and share only what is relevant to the intended discussion.
References
- McGoldrick M, Gerson R, Petry S. Genograms: Assessment and Intervention. 4th ed. W.W. Norton; 2020.
- American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 5th ed, text revision (DSM-5-TR). American Psychiatric Association Publishing; 2022.
- Wattendorf, D. J., & Hadley, D. W. (2005). Family History: The Three-Generation Pedigree. American Family Physician. https://www.aafp.org/afp/2005/0801/p441
Cite this source
Psychology.com. (2026, September 16). Genogram Symbols Reference. Psychology.com. https://psychology.com/tools/genogram-symbols-key
Genogram Symbols Reference FAQ
What is a genogram?
A graphic family tree that maps family structure across at least three generations along with the emotional and relational patterns within it, such as closeness, conflict, cutoff, and repeating patterns of illness or addiction. It is widely used in family and systemic therapy.
Whose symbol conventions are these?
The most widely used standards were developed under Monica McGoldrick and colleagues. Some symbols vary across textbooks and software, so it helps to include a small legend on your own diagram. Treat this as a simplified reference and check your program's required convention for formal work. Label adaptations explicitly, especially where a symbol combines categories that your diagram needs to distinguish.
How do I show a close versus a conflictual relationship?
Emotional relationship lines carry that meaning: two parallel lines indicate a close relationship, a jagged or zigzag line indicates conflict, three lines indicate enmeshment, and a line broken by a perpendicular bar indicates a cutoff. These meanings apply to the convention summarized here. Include a legend and identify whose description you are recording; a line cannot establish a diagnosis or explain the causes of a relationship pattern.
Can I draw a genogram digitally?
Yes. See our companion Genogram Maker to record family members and relationships and produce a clean PDF. This reference key explains what each symbol means. When preparing a digital diagram, check that labels and line styles remain legible in the printed version. Include a legend for adaptations and review sensitive details before sharing the file with anyone else. If you use color, also label its meaning in words so the diagram remains understandable when printed in black and white.
What does a triangle mean on a genogram?
In this simplified key, a triangle is grouped under pregnancy, miscarriage, or abortion, so a written label must specify which event is meant. Symbol conventions differ across sources, and some distinguish these events with separate marks. Use the convention required for your setting and record only information the person is comfortable sharing; the shape alone is insufficient.
How many generations should a genogram include?
A common starting point is three generations, such as the person, parents, and grandparents. The American Family Physician review describes this scope for a medical family pedigree. A relational genogram can extend further when useful, but incomplete family knowledge is acceptable. Mark gaps clearly and focus on relevant information rather than assuming a larger diagram reveals the cause of a problem.