Please Draw an ECOMAP selecting using a real case from your practice or using case study from this module. (You can add new information according to how you imagine the case).
Use the https://www.canva.com/graphs/ecomap/ to draw it.
An Ecomap is a diagram often used by social workers or nurses showing the social and personal relationships of an individual with his or her environment. Ecomaps were developed in 1975 by Dr. Ann Hartman who is also credited with creating the genogram. A cornerstone of the social work profession is joining with clients from a strengths-based and client-centered perspective, forming a relationship in which client and clinician work together toward client self-determination and empowerment. As client and clinician develop a therapeutic relationship in session over time, joining with clients can take many different forms. An ecomap is a visual tool that many social workers use with families and individuals as a participatory way to involve clients in describing and organizing the various elements impacting their lives. Ecomaps are essentially diagrams that place the client (or client system) at the center, and visually display the key social and personal relationships the client has with the external environment. Ecomaps visualize the person-in-environment perspective of the social work profession, and help clients to understand the various systems with which they interact in their current lives, giving a snapshot of the client in “their dynamic ecological system.”
How to Draw an Ecomap
The social worker, the client, or both, can draw an ecomap, using simple circles and lines with a key/legend.
- The first step is to draw the client in a large circle in the middle.
- Next, smaller circles drawn around the client represent each of the people, groups, institutions, and entities with which the client is in relationship. These can be family members, friends, churches, places of employment, educational institutions, etc, with the name of each entity written in the center of the circle.
- Finally, and perhaps most importantly, client and clinician should discuss and draw the types of connections between the client and each of the external entities in the smaller circles. Different types of lines can be used to denote different types of connections. For example, a dashed line might represent a distant connection, while a double line represents a strong connection – any type of line can be used in the drawing, but the definition of each should be noted in the Ecomap’s legend.
- Arrowheads should also be used at the end of each line to indicate the direction in which resources flow or the level of mutuality of the relationship. Arrowheads “indicate the direction of influence for each relationship.” For example, if one of the external entities included is “Social Security,” the arrow would point to the client, showing that the client receives resources from Social Security. A healthy relationship between mother and daughter would likely have an arrowhead on both ends, showing the reciprocity of the relationship, while one-sided relationships would have an arrowhead pointing in only one direction.
