Genogram/Ecomap Assignment
Family Name: My Family’s Genogram; completed by: Student’s name
Date………………………………. ADDRESS……………………………
Generation 1: Paternal Parents 1941 1922-2009 Maternal Parents
X-1931-2010 1942
S s s
My Uncles 1960s My Father 1961 My Mum My Aunts 1960s
Me 1985 My Husband 1983
My mother in law my sister
My Nephew: 2012
My daughter: 2011
Stanley’s Family Ecomap
My work My Husband’s
Work
Our Parents Our church
Recreation
My Husband Me
My sister
Small Group
Our culture (Self-help)
Psychiatrist
Key:
Direction of energy flow
Strong relationship
Tense relationship
Weak relationship
Analysis of the Genogram:
The genogram above represents my family from the generation of my grandparents all the way to my children (represented by my daughter). In the immediate family, we are three people, me, my husband and my daughter. My husband had his 31st birthday last month, and I will be having my 29th birthday in November, this year. Thereafter, we will celebrate our daughter’s third birthday in December. Ours is a small family, and sometimes we experience some loneliness when any of us is not willing to play with the child.
However, we are glad we have her since she keeps the house warm and provides some necessary noise. My husband suffers some psychological disturbance, which is seasonal. It comes and goes. At some moments, he is so disturbed, to the point of becoming a nuisance in the house. Since our child cries all through at such instances, I am left to carry the burden of sorrow, but I am happy such occurrences do not last for long.
The other members who are related to us directly are the members of the extended family. Both our maternal and paternal grandfathers, who had been born in the 1930s, have so far died. However, our grandmothers are still alive, though they are very aged, and depend on us for every provision they would need. My husband and I have resorted to support the two of the since we they do not have any source of income, or support system. My uncles and aunts were born in the 60s. They are of the same age bracket with my parents. As I grew up, they were very supportive to us and could always respond when called upon by my parents to assist. A chronic problem that is common for the males is smoking, which they view as a lifestyle, and they have demonstrated a lot of unwillingness to quit. All the uncles and the aunts are married and have children. The smoking habit of my father has in most instances brought disagreements between him and my mother. However, they have learnt to solve their disagreements without involving a third party. The uncles’ families have also been affected by their smoking habits. Despite the smoking, my nuclear family enjoys a stable relationship with the other members of the extended family. The strongest of them is the relationship between me and my mum, as well as my sister. The psychological illness of my husband has, in some way, affected the relationship between our nuclear family and some members of the extended family. For example, the relationship between my husband and the uncles is not the best.
Analysis of the Ecomap
The above ecomap shows the nuclear family of me, my husband and our daughter. In addition, the ecomap shows the various outside sources of pressure and comfort that are directly associated with our family. We got married in the year 2010 and had our first and only child in the year 2011. The three years of marriage have been enjoyable, despite the moment of sorrow brought about by the psychological illness of my husband. From the ecomap, it is also evident that we have a tense relationship with our parents, which is brought about by the emotional instability of my husband. My husband, who works as a teacher, also has a weak relationship with his workplace, and this is attributed to his psychological illness. We also do not have a good spiritual base as can be seen in the ecomap. Our relation to the church is weak. My husband does not believe in God. I used to believe in God, but my faith has faded recently. I value recreation, but my husband does not find any value in recreational activities. We thus spend our leisure time doing some household chores.
Apart from the weak relations of some aspect of our family, there are some groups that have been sources of comfort and solace in life. When things get harder, for example, when my husband is suffering emotional attacks, I turn to these groups for comfort. These are the members of the small self-help group, my sister, work mates and the cultural values. The members of the self-help group are always concerned with the individual well-being of every member, and they have been a great source of mentorship in the life journey. My sister too has always been with me, and we share every secret, even those that should not be shared. The family psychiatrist has also been a very significant figure in our family. He has been very supportive to me and my husband. His counselling sessions have of very great importance of moving on with life. These instrumental people have helped my family deal with health risks, especially the psychological torture posed by living with a mental case in the same house, and as a husband.
