Introduction to GenogramsÂ
Healing the family tree through genealogy and military research
Wednesday, March 25, at 7:00 p.m. CST
What is a Genogram?
What is a genogram? A genogram is a tool that resembles a family tree through which we use symbols to identify family beliefs, behaviors, and patterns. There are many themes that can be explored using this tool. This workshop will touch on the foundational work.Â
Are you interested in better understanding why you are who you are? Why your family and ancestors held certain beliefs, behaviors, and patterns?
In this interactive workshop, I will help you create a basic genogram, learn basic symbols, and start to identify patterns in your family.
Using this information and worksheet provided, you will have a new tool to take with you to family events. You will have new questions to ask and new connections to pursue through family interviews and more genealogy / military research.
Warning! You might be shocked about what you discover using this tool. These discoveries can end old family cycles, help you heal yourself and your ancestors, and create a new reality for you moving forward. This is one tool that has certainly changed my life in the last several years.
Interactive Workshop
This is a Zoom Meeting and questions are encouraged! Bring a notebook, whiteboard, sketchbook and some pens (colored pens or pencils are best). I will do a little facilitation with students as time permits as we create our first genograms.
Worksheets & Resources
Receive worksheets with questions/writing prompts and example genograms to help you continue your exploration after the workshop. A video replay will be available after the program.
Continued Discovery
Using the tools, worksheets, and resources provided, you will have the foundation you need to take your exploration to a new level.Â
YOUR GUIDE
JENNIFER HOLIKÂ
For more than a decade, I’ve helped people uncover the hidden stories of their military ancestors—from World War I through Vietnam—using a research approach that works even when records are missing, damaged, or destroyed. But my work has never been only about documents. It’s about understanding how war lives on in families.
My journey began nearly 30 years ago through genealogy and the quiet pull of my own military ancestors. Over time, I saw a pattern repeat itself again and again: the war may have ended, but its impact did not. Silence, fear, emotional distance, hyper-independence, grief, addiction, and fractured family dynamics often traced directly back to unspoken wartime experiences. Research opened the door—but healing was what families were truly seeking.
Having lived between Chicago and the Netherlands, I’ve been immersed in both American and European war history, culture, and remembrance. I’ve walked battlefields, stood at gravesites, and worked closely with military records while also navigating my own path through PTSD, inherited trauma, and deep ancestral healing. This lived experience sharpened my ability to recognize generational patterns and to help others make sense of how war shaped their families—often in ways no one ever explained.
Through the WWII Research & Writing Center and the Ancestral Souls Wisdom School, I now bring together genealogy, military research, trauma awareness, and ancestral healing. I help you recover the story of your veteran—and understand how that story echoes through generations—so you can transform inherited patterns into clarity, compassion, and healing.
This is not just research.
It’s reclamation.
It’s context.
It’s where history, lineage, and healing meet.
