My Family Genogram: A Play Therapy Technique

by Play Therapy Student

When we did our play therapy family genograms with a partner in class, I was rather pessimistic about how this tool could be used successfully.

However, after witnessing Dr. Stangline work with a classmate, and going through the process myself, I now see where this can be beneficial.

Once I began to explain my own play therapy genogram from my inner child perspective, I actually found myself slipping into my inner child mindset, for the first time in a long time.

In my play therapy genogram, the truck represents my father, the angel represents my mother, the lion - myself, the dog - my closest brother in age, and the monkey - my youngest brother in age.

Since my dad was a farmer all of his life, I always remember him driving all sizes of trucks, tractors, combines, and other farming equipment. He was a good father in spite of being a workaholic. He came to some, but not all of my activities.

My mother was a stay at home mom, who also did part time art work for a photographer. She would do oil painting on refurbished and brown tone photos before color film became the norm.

My mom and I had our ups and downs as I grew up, mostly due to her own not so great health issues. However, no matter how she felt, I would always find her reading her Bible at night before going to bed, and saying her prayers.

My mom was a prayer warrior no matter what, which is why I chose the angel to represent her. Thankfully my parents raised my brothers and I in the church, and they were actively involved, not just "pew warmers". I chose the dog for my brother,

Ron, since he was always a loyal friend and fun to play with. I chose the monkey for my youngest brother, Mark, because he was always joking around and trying to play tricks on us.

I am happy that I still have all of my family members, and that we do get along well when we're together.

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