The family tree as a therapeutic tool.

A family tree is a tool used fundamentally in practices such as bio decoding and psycho genealogy, among others. Its usefulness, however, has interesting scope in clinical psychology, since it provides information and allows work on transgenerational issues.

The elaboration of the family tree is a task that can be therapeutic in itself because it implies a download and an attempt to metabolize information about relatives and ancestors. It is the outline of history, of what precedes us, and already the very act of taking a pencil and building this framework places us in a position of awareness and responsibility for history itself. It is the acceptance of where we come from, and of all the conflicts, blockages, mandates, that were transmitted to us.

Often we know very little about one's own family history. Historicizing is the first step in the construction of identity and the future project, and for that, we must have certain information, become researchers of the past, since this can give us material for work in therapy and to shed light on conflicts. personal whose root we did not know.

Being able to illuminate these questions is extremely important in the path of independence and individuation because it allows us to separate what is ours from what is foreign, and, furthermore, because it makes us recognize parts of ourselves that function within a system. A family system that over the years has repeated certain patterns, and sometimes, they leave us trapped in them.

The familiar implies our personal history but at the same time, it conveys many cultural mandates and confronts us with the collective. Generations after generations are repeating and putting into play certain mythology that sometimes crosses us without being able to recognize it. Knowing the family myth and building one's own is essential routes to be able to live in a more comprehensive way.

“We are not what happens to us, we are what we choose to be.” Carl G. Jung

Working on what is transmitted to us is a way of transforming it in order to be able to choose with greater freedom. It implies the recognition of these unconscious transgenerational patterns or repetitions in order to be able, to a certain extent, to get away from the place of repetition and understand a little better what we are experiencing.

The family tree is a resource that allows us to explore our own family history. It builds bonds and connects characters from our past whose lives we may not know, but who have a great impact on our personal history. It is a very valuable therapeutic and self-knowledge tool, which offers the opportunity to be more aware and reflective in relation to the history that precedes us. And, as we know, this also helps us shape the future.

Knowing the history, not only family but also the history that we share as humans is very important in psychology. Usually, we go through life with no record of what came before us. Many times, even, its total importance is downplayed, placing all the energy in the future, and in accelerated times to conquer this or that thing. History helps us locate, organize and know who we are collective, in order to elaborate on who we are or who we want to be as individuals.

 

 

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