Joseph, 

   Yes, family history plays a huge role in presenting problems in my opinion. Working with young children this past year has convinced me more than ever, that families are dysfunctional together and also heal together. I used to attend a recovery group (Celebrate Recovery) for myself, but mainly to learn what drove people to addictions of all types. I didn't keep records but I would guess 80-95% of the people there had family issues growing up.
The only drawback I can see from doing something like a Genogram would be initial discouragement. That's not really bad as long as the person recovers and sees the genogram as something positive and an instrument to learn how to break family patterns of abuse etc.