In 1985, Randy Gerson, Ph.D., in collaboration with Monica McGoldrick, published Genograms in Family Assessment (W. W. Norton), a book that quickly became a classic on the use of genograms in family therapy and family medicine. A second edition appeared in 1999.

In preparation for the original book, Dr. Gerson developed a computer program for producing genograms according to the conventions outlined in the book. Originally, the software (called MacGenogram) worked only on Macintosh computers. In 1988, it was ported to the MS-DOS (IBM-compatible) platform and renamed Genogram-Maker. It still maintained the easy-to-use Macintosh interface, but widely broadened the number of people who could use the software.

In 1991, Dr. Gerson developed the Family Pattern Analyzer, a software-based interview for assessing multi-generational family patterns, to be used in conjunction with the genogram software. Users answer over 600 questions, from which an analysis of possible family patterns is produced.

Dr. Gerson died of leukemia in 1995, but his legacy of upgrading and developing software for health and mental health professionals continues (see Randy Gerson Memorial Grant).

Genoware, Inc. introduced Genogram-Maker Millennium in 2000. This represented a totally new version of the software using the Java programming language. With the introduction of Genogram-Maker Millennium version 2.0 in 2007, Genoware has continued to provide improved software using the most modern programming languages.