Visualizing Connections in Relationships with Ecomaps
Early on in a therapeutic session, you might hear your therapist (or other mental health care provider), ask for details about your support systems. They may even ask about your connection to your community. This is not only to gather information about you as a whole, but because connection to and having a sense of community has an impact on mental health. In a study published in 2023, “Compared with those who report a positive sense of community, those with a negative sense of community had significantly higher odds of reporting depression, anxiety and stress symptoms” (Park et al).
Clients who are struggling with anxious and depressive symptoms, may feel isolated and sometimes like they have no real connection to people in their lives, or their community. Although this feeling is valid, there are also therapeutic tools that can help clients visualize the various relationships and connections in their life, and amount of reciprocity between these connections.
One such tool is known as an ecomap (or ecogram). This tool was first introduced by a social worker named, Ann Hartman in 1978. She, and many therapeutic support providers since, believe that when exploring a person’s overall well-being, taking a holistic approach, and considering the person in their environment, can provide important information about how the person relates to the people and world around them.
This exercise utilizes circles and lines that begin with the client’s name circled located in the middle of the design space. The client is then asked to begin brainstorming connections in their life which may include; family members, friends and peers, educational or work connections, healthcare providers, community resources, spiritual and cultural connections, recreational activities, support services, neighbors/local community, and online/digital connections. Lines are then drawn connecting the central circles to other circles that include the client’s connections. Based on the status of the relationship, a solid line may be used between circles to indicate a close and strong relationship, a dashed line may be less close or occasional, or a line with slashes through it to demonstrate a difficult or stressful relationship. Each line will also include an arrow or two to represent if the relationship is reciprocal (arrow at each end) or if it is more of a one-sided relationship (arrow pointing to the person who is receiving more of the support or influence in the relationship. There may also be extra descriptive words added if appropriate.
It may be difficult for some folks to understand certain therapeutic concepts, such as imagining themselves in context of their environment and relationships, but using a visualization exercise such as an ecomap, can allow clients to visualize this concept, and make connections and realizations that they might not have been able to otherwise.
Christine Perkins, MSW, SWLC
References
Park EY, Oliver TR, Peppard PE, Malecki KC. Sense of community and mental health: a cross-sectional analysis from a household survey in Wisconsin. Fam Med Community Health. 2023 Jun;11(2):e001971. doi: 10.1136/fmch-2022-001971. PMID: 37399294; PMCID: PMC10314672.
https://historyofsocialwork.org/eng/details.php?cps=27&canon_id=156
Ecomap Example: https://www.socialworkerstoolbox.com/ecomap-activity/