Family Dysfunction

During our class discussion today about genograms I couldn’t help but think about just how complicated the term family can be. While I always thought of my family as being somewhat “normal” I found as I began to think about how I would construct my own genogram that my family has a lot of complicated relationships. My family has a history of alcohol abuse on both sides as well as issues dealing with an uncle who came out of the closet. I feel that what helps some families grow stronger are the conflicts and “weird circumstances” that come up in our relationships with each other. Sometimes what makes our family so complicated is also what makes it so interesting. The divorces, the substance abuse, the affairs, the fights are what make us not only strong individuals, but strong families as well. In terms of professional development how we are able to cope and deal with these issues are how we are going to learn lessons for the future. So I guess having a “normal” family may not be all that it is cracked up to be, sometimes we need a little dysfunction.