Gregory Bateson (1904–1980) was a founding figure of family therapy. The centenary of his birth offers a chance to look again at his life and work for ‘the patterns that connect’. Family therapy may have turned out to be a receding part of that pattern, but it remains important to place Bateson and his thinking in the larger contexts of knowledge; the 19th century history of Darwin and evolution, and 20th century developments in genetics, anthropology, cybernetics and psychotherapy. Bateson swam in all these vast currents, moving towards new aesthetic, holistic and contextual forms of systemic wisdom. His ideas are still very relevant to therapists, but even more, they may be vital to our very survival as a planet in this new century.

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The genogram is a practical and widely adopted tool for mapping families in therapy. Its use can be easily learnt and is recommended for beginners in family therapy. The genogram promotes thinking In system and transactional terms, and shifts emphasis away from individual problems to relational issues. A family system can be given a visual focus, and this often reveals patterns and connections previously unnoticed. A set of conventions for constructing genograms is suggested, with ways of elaborating on this basic frame. The applications of the genogram in joining families, in planning interventions, as a clinical communication medium, and in learning family therapy are discussed. Other types of network diagrams are briefly listed, and a clinical example of a genogram is given. Finally, limits and cautions on the use of genograms are discussed.