A family tree is more than a drawing and an accumulation of family data, dates, and stories. It can be a very powerful tool to understand and cure a person’s circumstances and problems.
It may not be a healing tool, as some have argued, but the truth is that it can provide us with valuable information about our origin and also explain to us one way or another where we come from, some currents even dare to say it. that through knowledge of the family tree, we can discover how the familiar unconscious interacts with the personal unconscious.
- It was in the 1960s that a number of psychoanalysts emerged in Europe for whom therapy focused on raising awareness of the repetition of conflicts and difficulties within the family.
- And on their therapeutic approach included a transgenerational approach.
In the 1970s ” psychogenealogy” was born, a method of psychoanalysis that emphasizes the relationship between the origin of a person’s problems and situations not resolved by their ancestors. Psychogeneology considers that the mere awareness of these problems produces their release or resolution. psychogeneology, we can find Anne Schotzenberger, Didier Dumas, Jodorowsky, Bert Hellinger, among others.
In the last thirty years, in the psychotherapeutic field, the concept of “family unconscious” has regained its value, re-considered ancient Eastern philosophical thoughts, emphasizing the influence our ancestors might have on our lives or on the strength of some people. in the family network. Currently, the family tree is used and is part of the medical history as a tool in several disciplines: psychotherapy, psychiatry, medicine, social work, education?
Creating a family tree can be a fun activity: finding out who we are and where we come from. To know who our ancestors were, to know their origin, what they engaged in, this activity can become a great hobby. In addition, it encompasses a whole source of studies called genealogy.
As for the development and study of our family tree, it can help us in many ways, such as:
“Anyone who forgets your story is doomed to repeat it. ? Marco Tulio Cicero-
To build a family tree, we can start collecting data by asking and interviewing family members, then we can continue to examine documents, photographs, images, civil registry documents, files with historical documents, the Internet, etc.
The data that we can search and annotate in the tree are
Interpreting a family tree means doing a “transgenerational analysis”. In this analysis, can we identify unresolved conflicts, unresolved behavior patterns?The key question in the interpretation of the family tree is: to become conscious?And identify possible “programs”. It can be extremely productive to do this in collaboration with someone.
It is difficult for the family tree to give us an answer without first asking a question; however, in many cases, curiosity can simultaneously produce both phenomena (question and answer). The habit is to create or consult a family tree when you have certain concerns about different topics (emotions, circumstances, blockages, diseases?).
In other words, it’s good to analyze the tree by asking specific questions. Getting the answers and discovering your relationships can be an overwhelming but at the same time exciting task, a real process of personal development. With it, we can answer a fundamental question: where do we come from and how do you condition us?
In short, the development and study of a family tree can be an exciting activity that we can all perform at some point in our lives, according to the experts, the simple fact of seeing and understanding the tree already has a healing effect, not to mention what we can do. do with this information later. Then why not try?
“No one exists alone, no one lives alone. . – Julio Medem-