Insights on family systems, genogram technique, clinical practice, and building tools that respect the therapeutic relationship.
Product
Introducing genograms.net — A New Kind of Genogram Builder
We built genograms.net because we couldn't find a digital genogram tool that met the bar we needed: clinically accurate, truly collaborative, and HIPAA-compliant without compromise. Today we're opening the public beta to the first 100 providers.
For 15 years, most clinicians have built genograms one of two ways: on paper, or by fighting with generic diagramming software that wasn't designed for clinical notation. Both approaches have real costs — in session time, in accuracy, and in the missed opportunity for shared exploration with clients.
genograms.net was designed from the ground up to serve the therapeutic relationship. Real-time collaboration means the genogram is built together — clinician and client, side by side, watching patterns emerge on screen. It's a fundamentally different experience from drawing alone and then presenting.
We've built HIPAA compliance into every layer: AES-256 encryption at rest, secure WebSocket transport, automatic session timeouts, role-based access control, full audit logging, and a signed BAA for every provider account. Because if your clients trust you with their family's story, you need tools that take that trust as seriously as you do.
Clinical
Why Genograms Work: The Science of Making Patterns Visible
Genograms are more than family trees. They're a clinical tool rooted in systems theory — and the research supports their power to create breakthroughs in therapy.
First introduced by Murray Bowen and later formalized by Monica McGoldrick, genograms encode multi-generational information — relationships, emotional patterns, medical history, substance use, and more — into a single visual. They make the invisible visible.
Research consistently shows that visual tools improve therapeutic engagement. When clients can see their family system mapped out in front of them, they often notice patterns they've never articulated before. The "aha" moment of recognizing a three-generation pattern of conflict avoidance, for example, is qualitatively different when it's drawn rather than described.
Digital genograms take this further by enabling real-time collaboration. When a client adds their grandmother's story to the diagram while the clinician adds the emotional pattern notation, the therapeutic relationship becomes a co-creative act. That shared agency is powerful.
Security
HIPAA Compliance for Digital Therapy Tools: What Actually Matters
Most "HIPAA-compliant" tools check a box. Here's what genuine compliance looks like — and what to ask before trusting any tool with PHI.
HIPAA compliance isn't a product feature — it's a set of administrative, physical, and technical safeguards that must be continuously maintained. When evaluating a digital tool for clinical use, look beyond marketing claims and ask specific questions: Is data encrypted at rest, or only in transit? Is there a signed BAA? Are audit logs retained for the required period? Is there an incident response plan?
At genograms.net, we've built compliance into the architecture itself. All client data is encrypted with AES-256-GCM before it touches disk. Sessions auto-timeout after 15 minutes. We implement rate limiting, CSRF protection, and role-based access control. Our audit logs are retained for 6+ years per HIPAA requirements, with automated compression for efficiency.
The BAA is perhaps the most critical piece — it creates a legal obligation for the software vendor to protect PHI. At genograms.net, every provider signs a BAA during registration, and we email a confirmation copy immediately. It's not optional, and it's not separate — it's part of the provider experience.
Ready to try it?
Start building genograms with your clients — HIPAA-compliant, secure, and collaborative.