Most ecomap examples online are a single picture: a circle in the middle, a ring of smaller circles, and lines of different styles running between them. That shows you the shape. It doesn't show you what to ask the client, how to decide whether a line is strong or stressful, or what the map should change in treatment. This article does. You'll find two complete ecomap examples from invented clients, a caregiver who has stopped asking for help and a family six months after a move, each written out system by system so you can read it without a drawing. You'll also get the standard notation, a step-by-step way to build an ecomap in session, an ecomap template you can copy, and how to carry the map into the treatment plan and the record.
Every client and family in this article is invented. Any resemblance to a real person is a coincidence.
What is an ecomap?
An ecomap (also written eco-map) is a diagram of one person or household and the people, groups and institutions around them. It shows which connections give support, which take energy, and which are missing. The client or household sits in a circle in the middle. Each outside system, such as work, school, extended family, friends, a faith community, health care or a public agency, gets its own circle around the edge. Lines between the center and each circle show how strong the connection is and whether it helps or costs, and arrows show which way energy and resources flow.
Social worker Ann Hartman developed the ecomap in the 1970s for child welfare workers and described it in her 1978 article "Diagrammatic Assessment of Family Relationships" in Social Casework, reprinted in Families in Society in 1995. It comes straight out of social work's person-in-environment view: you can't understand a family's struggles without the systems pressing on it and holding it up.
Two things make an ecomap different from a list of contacts in an intake form:
- It shows quality, not just names.An intake form says "sister" whether the client calls her every day or hasn't spoken to her in a year. On an ecomap those are different lines.
- It is a snapshot of now.Drawn again a few months later, it shows what changed. Nursing researchers Ray and Street built ecomaps over 10 months with family caregivers of people living with motor neurone disease (ALS) and found the maps let people "identify each member of the network, examine the strength of each relationship and ascertain the sources of nurture and tension over time."
When therapists and social workers use an ecomap
- At intake or in a psychosocial assessment, to see a client's supports and stressors on one page.
- Case management and referrals, to find needs that no system in the client's life is meeting.
- Child welfare, foster care and adoption work, where Hartman's tool started.
- School social work, to map a student's ties to school, home, friends and services.
- Medical, hospice and aging work: caregivers, home health, benefits, transport and discharge planning.
- Family therapy, to see how each member connects outside the home and where outside stress lands inside it.
- Isolation, depression and grief. A thin map is a finding in itself.
- Big transitions: a move, a divorce, a new baby, retirement, job loss, leaving a hospital or jail, arriving in a new country.
- Substance use recovery, to sort the connections that support recovery from the ones that pull back toward use.
- Safety planning, to check who the client could actually call.
- Near the end of therapy, when a redrawn map shows the client what changed.
When to wait or adapt:
- In a crisis, stabilize first. The ecomap can come later.
- When a client lives with someone who harms or controls them, draw it in session and keep it in the record rather than sending a copy home. More on this under privacy below.
- When a client feels ashamed of how few connections they have, start with what is there. "Who did you talk to this week, even for a minute?" A neighbor, an online group, a pet or a pharmacist who knows their name can all go on the map if they matter to the client.
Ecomap symbols and lines: the standard notation
There is no single official key. Hartman kept hers simple, and textbooks and drawing tools vary in the details, so put a key on every ecomap you draw. These are the conventions most keys share.
Circles
- Center circle:the client, or the household. For a household, write or draw each member inside it. Hartman drew the household inside the center circle with genogram symbols.
- Outer circles:one for each system, which can be a person, a group or an institution. Label each with a role or a first name: "Mom," "Hillview High School," "food pantry."
- Circle size (optional):some clinicians draw bigger circles for systems that matter more. If you do, say so in the key.
Lines: strength and quality
- Strong connection:a solid line. The thicker the line, or the more lines drawn side by side, the stronger the tie.
- Moderate connection:a thin solid line.
- Weak or tenuous connection:a dashed or dotted line.
- Stressful or conflicted connection:a line with short hatch marks across it. Some keys use a jagged, zigzag line instead.
- Strong and stressful at once:a solid line with hatch marks. Many of the most important ties are both, such as a parent the client cares for.
- Ended connection (some keys):a line broken in the middle, for a tie that used to exist.
- No line:no connection. A system the client needs but has no tie to is a gap, and gaps often matter more than any line on the page.
Arrows: the flow of energy or resources
- Arrow pointing to the client:support, money, time or care flows to the client.
- Arrow pointing to the system:the client gives energy, care, money or time.
- Arrows at both ends:it flows both ways.
- No arrow:no clear direction.
Labels and color
- A few words on a line say what flows along it: "rent help," "calls on Sundays," "court dates."
- Color can help, for example green for support and red for stress, but don't rely on color alone. Records get printed and copied in black and white, and some readers can't tell red from green.
Ecomap and genogram: how they differ and how they work together
People often search for "ecomap and genogram" because the two are taught together. They answer different questions.
- What it maps.A genogram maps a family's structure and patterns across generations, usually three: who is related to whom, births, deaths, partnerships, illness, substance use and how close or conflicted family relationships are. An ecomap maps one person or household and its connections to the world outside: work, school, friends, faith, health care, agencies, money and the law.
- Which way it looks.A genogram looks inward and back in time. An ecomap looks outward at the present.
- Shapes.A genogram uses squares, circles and partner lines arranged in generations. An ecomap uses circles in a ring, with lines running from the center.
- How fast it changes.A genogram changes with births, deaths and partnerships. An ecomap can change in a month.
- The question it answers.A genogram asks: what patterns came down to this client? An ecomap asks: where does support come from, where does energy go, and what is missing?
How to use them together:
- Put the genogram inside the ecomap.Draw the household with genogram symbols in the ecomap's center circle, as Hartman did.
- The same relative can sit on both.The genogram shows that the client has a brother. The ecomap shows that the brother offers help in general terms and has never been asked for anything specific, which is something you can work with this month.
- Compare them.In a study of male family caregivers, Rempel, Neufeld and Kushner used both and found that comparing them uncovered "unrealized potential in the participant's social network" that neither tool showed alone.
- Choose the first one by the problem.Many clinicians start with the ecomap when the problem is current and practical (isolation, caregiving, a move, case management) and with the genogram when it looks like it runs in the family.
Our genogram examples for therapists show two full cases written out generation by generation, in the same format as the ecomaps below, with a genogram template you can copy.
How to make an ecomap with a client, step by step
- Explain it and ask. "I'd like to draw a map of the people and places in your life, to see where your support comes from and what takes your energy. You decide what goes on it, and we can skip anything." Note that the client agreed.
- Decide whose map it is. One client, or a household. For a household, write everyone who lives together inside the center circle, with first names and ages.
- List the systems. Ask open questions before you suggest categories. The questions that work well are listed just after these steps.
- Check the usual circles. Extended family, friends, work or school, health care, mental health care, faith or spiritual community, recreation, neighborhood, online communities, money and benefits, housing, child care, transport, legal or court, and social services. Skip any that don't apply.
- Place the circles around the center. Leave room between them. Some clinicians put closer systems nearer the center.
- Ask the client to rate each connection. "How strong is this connection? Is it more support, more stress, or both?" Draw the line the client chooses, even if you see it differently, and write your own view separately.
- Add the arrows. "Does more come to you from here, or go out from you? Or both?"
- Label the lines with a few of the client's own words.
- Look at the whole map together. Ask, "What do you notice?" Common findings: energy going out with little coming back, every strong tie running to one person, a need with no circle at all, supports the client has stopped using, and one stressful system that touches everything else.
- Pick what the client wants to change. One or two connections to strengthen, reduce, repair or add. These become goals.
- Date it, add the key and file it as version 1.
- Draw it again at review points: treatment plan reviews, after a big change, and near the end of therapy. Put the versions side by side with the client.
Questions that open up the map (step 3):
- "Walk me through a typical week. Where do you go, and who do you see or talk to?"
- "Who would you call at 2 in the morning if something went wrong?"
- "Who or what takes the most out of you right now?"
- "Is there anyone you used to be close to and aren't now?"
- "What help have you been offered, or thought about asking for?"
- "Is there anything you need that nobody in your life gives you right now?"
Pacing, telehealth and children:
- A first ecomap often takes 20 to 30 minutes, and it can run across two sessions.
- Let the client hold the pen if they want to. A map they drew themselves often feels more like theirs.
- On video, share your screen with a blank drawing page and draw as the client talks, or have the client draw on paper and hold it up to the camera.
- With children, use simpler words ("people who help you," "things that are hard"), let them draw or use stickers, and make a parent's version alongside.
- If a stressful line turns out to be abuse or neglect, stop mapping, assess safety, and follow your reporting duties.
Ecomap example 1: a caregiver who has stopped asking for help
Invented client: Denise, 56, a hospital pharmacy technician, in individual therapy by video with a licensed clinical social worker in private practice. Her mother, Ruth, 81, moved in with her 14 months ago after a dementia diagnosis. Denise came in for low mood, poor sleep and "snapping at everyone." Her PHQ-9 at intake was 16. Her social worker built the ecomap with her in session 2.
Because the map is Denise's, her mother is drawn as one of her systems even though they share a home.
Center
- Denise, 56.
Systems, lines and arrows
- Mom (Ruth), 81, lives with Denise.Strong and stressful: a solid line with hatch marks. Arrow from Denise to Ruth. In Denise's words: "I do everything for her, and some days she doesn't know who I am."
- Work, hospital pharmacy, 36 hours a week.Stressful. Arrows both ways: the paycheck comes in, energy goes out. She has been late twice a month because of her mother's mornings.
- Daughter, Tasha, 30, lives 20 minutes away.Strong. Arrows both ways. Calls most days and brings groceries on Sundays.
- Brother, Carl, lives in another state.Weak and stressful: a dashed line with hatch marks. Arrow from Denise: she sends him updates, and he rarely calls. "He says 'let me know if you need anything,' and I never do."
- Best friend, Lorraine.Weak. Arrows both ways. They had dinner every week for years; Denise last saw her in the spring.
- Church choir.Ended: a line broken in the middle. She sang for 20 years and stopped when Sunday mornings became impossible.
- Ruth's doctors, primary care and neurology.Stressful. Arrow from Denise: appointments, calls and forms. "It's a second job."
- Denise's own primary care doctor.Weak. Last visit more than two years ago.
- Money.Stressful. Arrow from Denise. Ruth's pension covers some of her costs, and Denise covers the rest.
- Local aging services (adult day programs, respite).No line. Ruth's neurologist gave Denise a list of local services; she hasn't called any of them.
- Caregiver support group.No line.
- Therapy.Moderate. Arrow to Denise. Two sessions so far.
What Denise and her social worker noticed
- Energy goes out on almost every line. Only Tasha and therapy send anything back.
- What used to refill her has faded since her mother moved in: the choir ended and Lorraine is now a dashed line.
- Carl has offered help in general terms and has never been asked for anything specific.
- Services built for exactly her situation have no line at all.
- Her own health is the weakest line on the map.
- In Denise's words: "I've turned into a one-way street."
What the ecomap changed in treatment
- Goal 1, lighten the caregiving load.Denise will call her local Area Agency on Aging about respite and adult day programs. They planned the call together in session, and the social worker gave her the Eldercare Locator number to find the right office.
- Goal 2, rebuild one source of support.One Sunday a month back at church while Tasha stays with Ruth, and dinner with Lorraine once a month.
- Goal 3, ask for something specific.Denise will ask Carl for one concrete thing, such as paying for an aide one afternoon a week or calling their mother twice a week. They rehearsed the request in session.
- Her own health.Denise booked a checkup with her primary care doctor.
- The rest of the plan stayed:behavioral activation, sleep work, and a PHQ-9 every two weeks.
- The case conceptualization:the caregiving load went under precipitating factors, the lost choir and friendship and her reluctance to ask under perpetuating factors, and Tasha, her faith and 20 years of community under protective factors.
How it went into Denise's progress note
An excerpt from the DAP note for session 2:
Data: Completed ecomap with client: 12 systems mapped, two with no current connection. Strong and stressful connection to her mother (caregiving; mother lives with client); stressful connections to work, her mother's medical care and finances; strong two-way connection to daughter; weak connections to brother, best friend and her own primary care. Choir and church attendance ended 10 months ago. No contact with aging services or caregiver support, though client has a list of local options. Client said, "I've turned into a one-way street." PHQ-9 today 15 (16 at intake). Asked about thoughts of suicide or of harming others; client denied both.
Assessment: Low mood and poor sleep appear to be maintained by heavy caregiving demands with little support coming back, and by the loss of her main sources of renewal (choir, close friend) since her mother moved in. Reluctance to ask for help, including from her brother, keeps the load on her. Her daughter, faith community and long friendships are strengths. Symptoms remain in the moderately severe range. Continued weekly therapy is needed.
Plan: Client will call the Area Agency on Aging about respite and adult day programs before the next session and will ask her daughter to cover one Sunday morning this month. Therapist will role-play a specific request to her brother next session and continue behavioral activation. Ecomap version 1, dated 10/20, filed in the record. Next session in one week by video.
Ecomap example 2: a family six months after a move
Invented family, seen by a licensed marriage and family therapist, in person and by video. The household: Renee, 41, an emergency room nurse who works three night shifts a week; her husband Marcus, 44, a warehouse supervisor and Eli's stepfather; Eli, 14, in 9th grade; and Ava, 4, Renee and Marcus's daughter. They moved across the state for Renee's job six months ago. The family came in because of Eli's angry outbursts, slipping grades and long hours alone in his room, and because Renee and Marcus argue about how to handle him. Eli's father, Paul, lives in the city they left.
The family drew the ecomap together in session 3, with Ava drawing at a side table. In a household ecomap, when a connection belongs to one person, draw the line from that person inside the center circle rather than from the whole household.
Center (household)
- Renee, 41.
- Marcus, 44.
- Eli, 14.
- Ava, 4.
Systems, lines and arrows
- Eli: his new high school.Stressful. Arrow from Eli. Two emails a week about missing assignments.
- Eli: the school counselor.Weak. Met once, at enrollment.
- Eli: his friends from the old city, through online games.Strong and stressful. Arrows both ways. Strong for Eli, who plays with them most evenings: "They're the only people who get me." The stress is the nightly argument at home about screen time.
- Eli: his father, Paul.Weak. Arrows both ways. Calls every other week, often canceled.
- Renee: Paul.Stressful. Arguments about summer visits.
- Eli: his old soccer club.Ended. He played for four years and hasn't joined a team since the move.
- Renee: her work, nights in the emergency room.Strong and stressful. Arrows both ways: income comes in, sleep and energy go out.
- Marcus: his work, day shifts.Moderate. Arrows both ways.
- Renee and Eli: Renee's mother, Grace, in the old city.Strong. Arrows to Renee and Eli. Calls Eli every Sunday and sends money for school clothes.
- Ava: her preschool.Moderate. Arrows both ways. Ava has settled in.
- The household: a pediatrician.No line. The children aren't registered with a local doctor yet; the old one is three hours away.
- The household: neighbors.No line. They haven't met anyone on their street.
- The household: a faith community.No line, and none wanted. They weren't part of one before the move. Mark it as not wanted so nobody later reads it as a gap.
- The household: family therapy.Moderate. Arrow to the household.
What the family noticed
- Every strong tie Eli has is in the old city or online. He has none where he lives now.
- Soccer was how Eli made friends, and it ended with the move.
- The school knows Eli only through missing work, and the family's only line to the school is warning emails.
- Renee's night shifts reach inside the home. The ecomap doesn't draw lines inside the household, but the family named it while looking at Renee's work line: the worst fights happen on her night-shift mornings, when Marcus gets Eli out the door.
- No local doctor for either child.
- In Eli's words: "Everything good is back there."
What the ecomap changed in treatment
- A local tie for Eli.Eli chose to try out for a club soccer team. Marcus will drive him to practice, which also gives the two of them regular time together that isn't about homework.
- A line to the school.With a release signed by Renee and Eli's agreement, the therapist will talk with the school counselor about a plan for the missing work.
- Screen time.The family agreed on a schedule that protects Eli's evenings with his old friends instead of cutting them off.
- Calls with Paul.Renee will ask Paul for a fixed call time with Eli. Disagreements between Renee and Paul stay out of Eli's sessions.
- A pediatrician.Renee will register both children with a local practice this month.
- Night-shift mornings.Marcus and Eli will make a morning plan together in the next family session.
- The case conceptualization:the move went under precipitating factors, the loss of local friends and the morning conflict under perpetuating factors, and Eli's online friendships, his grandmother, Ava settling in and both parents' concern under protective factors.
How it went into the family's record
- The family session note says what was done ("Completed household ecomap with Renee, Marcus and Eli; Ava present") and gives the main findings in the family's words, with the plan above.
- People who aren't clients are written as the family's report, briefly: "Per Eli and Renee, Eli's father lives out of town and calls are irregular." Paul and Grace haven't been assessed and haven't agreed to be in the record.
- Eli's online friends appear as "friends from his previous city," with no names or usernames.
- Who the client is was settled at intake: the family. A secrets policy in the consent form covers what Eli says in individual time; our informed consent example covers how to word one. State law on minors' records and consent also applies.
- The release for the school names the counselor and the purpose. The school gets what it needs for the homework plan, not the ecomap.
An ecomap template you can copy
Paste this into a document, copy the system block once for each system, and fill in only what serves the purpose. Kinds of system you might use: family, friends, work, school, health care, mental health care, faith, recreation, community, online, money, housing, child care, transport, legal, social services. The filled list works on its own: it can go straight into the record, and anyone can read it without the drawing.
Using the ecomap template in Word or on paper
- In Word or another word processor, paste the template, then duplicate the system block for each system. Save it wherever you keep client records, not on a personal desktop or in your email.
- To draw it, work from the filled list: the center circle first, then one circle per system block around it. The Strength and Stressful fields tell you which line to draw, and Energy flows tells you where the arrows go. A sheet of paper turned sideways has room for a dozen or more circles.
- If you draw in a separate program, that program holds client information too. Check its privacy terms, and whether it will sign a Business Associate Agreement, before you use it with clients.
- Add the key to every version.
Using an ecomap in treatment planning
Each kind of finding on the map points to a kind of goal:
- A stressful system:reduce the stress or set limits, such as one fixed time a week for a parent's medical calls.
- A weak connection the client values:strengthen it, like Denise's monthly dinner with Lorraine.
- An ended connection the client misses:repair it or replace it, like Eli's soccer.
- A gap:a referral or a link, like Denise's call to aging services or the family's pediatrician.
- Energy going out far faster than it comes in:rebalance it, through respite, shared tasks or specific requests for help.
- A strong supportive system:name it as a strength and build the plan on it.
Then make each goal measurable and tie it to the problem it serves:
- Measurable:"Client will attend a caregiver support group at least twice in the next six weeks," not "increase social support."
- Tied to the clinical problem:"to reduce caregiving load that maintains depressed mood (PHQ-9 16 at intake)." That link is what shows the goal belongs in a treatment plan.
- Releases first:any goal that involves contacting a school, a doctor or an agency needs the client's written authorization before you call.
- Redraw to review:at each treatment plan review, draw the map again and compare it with version 1. A dashed line that has become solid, or a gap that now has a circle, is progress you can show the client and record.
The patterns belong in your case conceptualization too. In the 5 Ps, current stressors on the map often explain "why now" (precipitating), lost supports and one-way lines often keep the problem going (perpetuating), and strong ties are protective factors. Our case conceptualization examples show the 5 Ps for two full cases.
How to document an ecomap
- The session's progress note names the intervention ("Completed ecomap with client" or "Updated ecomap, version 2"), gives the key findings in the client's words, your reading and the plan, as in Denise's note above. Our progress notes cheat sheet lists intervention terms for family and couples work, and our DAP notes examples show where interventions go in that format.
- The psychosocial assessment gets a short summary under social supports: strong supports, main stressors, gaps. For Denise: "Supports: daughter (strong). Stressors: caregiving, work schedule, mother's medical care, finances. Gaps: respite, caregiver support, her own medical care."
- The ecomap itself goes in the record as a dated document: the drawing, the filled template, or both. When you redraw it, add a new dated version rather than changing the old one.
- Other people's information is the client's report. "Client reports her brother rarely calls," not "brother is disengaged." You haven't assessed him.
- Roles or first names, and only what matters to care. Leave out details about other people that don't affect the work.
- Note what the client agreed to and what they left off. If a client chose not to map a relationship yet, write that, so the gap isn't read later as no connection.
Privacy: an ecomap names people and places
An ecomap holds information about people and organizations who never agreed to be in your records, and some circles say a lot by their name alone. Treat it with that in mind.
- It is part of the record.An ecomap you use for assessment and treatment planning is record material, not a private process note. HIPAA's definition of psychotherapy notes leaves out summaries of diagnosis, functional status, symptoms, the treatment plan and progress (45 CFR 164.501), which is most of what an ecomap feeds. Clients can generally ask for a copy of their record (45 CFR 164.524), so write it knowing the client may read it.
- Some systems are sensitive by name:a probation officer, a shelter, an immigration lawyer, a recovery meeting, a specialty clinic. Put them on the map when they matter to care and the client agrees. The NASW Code of Ethics asks social workers not to "solicit private information from or about clients except for compelling professional reasons" (NASW Code of Ethics, 1.07(a)), and asks that documentation "include only information that is directly relevant to the delivery of services" (NASW Code of Ethics, 3.04(c)).
- Share the part, not the map.When a school or an agency needs information, send what serves that purpose. The NASW Code asks social workers to "disclose the least amount of confidential information necessary to achieve the desired purpose" (1.07(c)). HIPAA's minimum necessary standard covers disclosures such as those to a payer, though not disclosures to another provider for treatment or disclosures the client has authorized in writing (45 CFR 164.502(b)). Sharing outside treatment generally needs the client's written authorization, and many states are stricter for mental health records and for minors.
- Safety comes first.If a client lives with someone who harms or controls them, an ecomap showing a shelter, an advocate or a friend they confide in is dangerous in the wrong hands. Don't send a copy home or by email; keep it in the record and ask the client where, if anywhere, a copy would be safe.
- Consultation and supervision:use initials and roles. The NASW Code says social workers "should not disclose identifying information when discussing clients with consultants" unless the client has consented or there is a compelling need (1.07(v)).
- Storage:paper in a locked file, digital copies in a system whose vendor signs a Business Associate Agreement with you, and no photos of the drawing on a personal phone.
How this works in TranqBay
TranqBay is practice software for therapists in private practice: a practice website, online booking, video sessions and session notes in one place. It doesn't draw ecomaps. Here is where the work around one fits.
- The first names before the first map.The form library has ready-made templates you send a client for a session. The goals for therapy form asks, "Who in your life could support you with this?" The safety and emergency contacts form asks who the client could reach out to if they were struggling and what helps when things feel overwhelming. Clients fill in forms online and the answers wait with the session, so you can start the ecomap from people the client has already named.
- Energy between sessions.The weekly mood check-in asks what took up most of the client's energy, with choices such as work or study, family, relationship, health, money or friends. You read the answers yourself; next to the ecomap, they show whether the drains you mapped are shifting.
- Drawing it together on video.Video sessions are end-to-end encrypted and run in the browser. Share your screen with a drawing page while the client talks, and for a household ecomap, invite other family members to the same session.
- The ecomap in your notes.Paste the filled template into a blank note, or put the summary in the Data section of a BIRP, DAP, SOAP or GIRP note. Structured formats are part of the advanced note templates, which some plans include.
- A release before you call anyone on the map.The form library includes a release of information form, for sharing with another professional involved in the client's care, which your client fills in online.
- A Business Associate Agreement.TranqBay's Business Associate Agreement applies when you accept the Terms, with no separate document to sign.
On practice.tranqbay.health you can see how a session runs from booking to the video call, including inviting others to a family session, before you set anything up.
Frequently asked questions about ecomaps
What is an ecomap used for?
To see, on one page, a client's or household's connections to the world outside: who and what gives support, what takes energy, and what is missing. Social workers and therapists use it in assessment, treatment planning, case management, referrals and safety planning, and redraw it to show change.
Who created the ecomap?
Social worker Ann Hartman, who developed it in the 1970s for child welfare work and described it in "Diagrammatic Assessment of Family Relationships," published in Social Casework in 1978.
What is the difference between an ecomap and a genogram?
A genogram maps a family's structure and patterns across generations. An ecomap maps one person or household and its current ties to outside systems such as work, school, friends, health care and agencies. Many clinicians use both, with the household drawn as a small genogram in the ecomap's center circle. See our genogram examples for the other half.
What do the lines on an ecomap mean?
In most keys, a solid line is a strong connection (thicker means stronger), a dashed or dotted line is a weak one, and a line with hatch marks is stressful. A solid line with hatch marks is strong and stressful. Arrows show which way energy or resources flow. Keys vary, so always include yours.
How long does it take to make an ecomap?
A first ecomap often takes 20 to 30 minutes in session, and it can run across two sessions. Updates are quicker because you are only marking what changed.
Can I make an ecomap in Word?
Yes. Paste the template above into Word or any word processor and fill in one block per system, or draw circles and lines with the program's shapes. Save it where you keep client records, and add a key.
Should the client draw the ecomap?
They can, and many clients engage more when they hold the pen. Either way, the client decides how strong or stressful each line is. You record your own view separately.
How often should an ecomap be updated?
At treatment plan reviews, after a big change such as a move, a death, a new job or a breakup, and near the end of therapy. Keep each version with its date.
Can you use an ecomap with children?
Yes. Use simple words, let the child draw or use stickers, and keep it short. A parent's version of the same map is often useful alongside the child's, and differences between the two are worth talking about.
Is an ecomap part of the client's record?
Generally, yes. An ecomap used for assessment or treatment planning is part of the clinical record, not a psychotherapy note under HIPAA, so the client can usually ask to see it. Write it with that in mind.
Before your next session
Copy the template, ask the 2 a.m. question, and draw the first version with your client. Date it, then draw it again at your next treatment plan review: the difference between the two is often the clearest picture of progress you'll have.
If you also want booking, video sessions and session notes in one place, see how TranqBay works for private practice: you can look at a practice website template and the booking page your clients would use. If you're deciding whether to join, this page explains how joining TranqBay works.
If you pair the ecomap with a genogram, genogram symbols and meanings has a key you can copy.
Sources
Research 4Associations 2Regulations 3States 1988 Lifeline 1
Research4
- 1Hartman, A. (1978). Diagrammatic assessment of family relationships. Social Casework, 59(8), 465-476doi.orghttps://doi.org/10.1177/104438947805900803
- 2Hartman, A. (1995). Diagrammatic assessment of family relationships. Families in Society, 76(2), 111-122 (reprint)doi.orghttps://doi.org/10.1177/104438949507600207
- 3Ray, R. A., and Street, A. F. (2005). Ecomapping: an innovative research tool for nurses. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 50(5), 545-552doi.orghttps://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2005.03434.x
- 4Rempel, G. R., Neufeld, A., and Kushner, K. E. (2007). Interactive use of genograms and ecomaps in family caregiving research. Journal of Family Nursing, 13(4), 403-419doi.orghttps://doi.org/10.1177/1074840707307917
Professional associations2
- 5National Association of Social Workers, Code of Ethics, standard 1.07 Privacy and Confidentialitysocialworkers.orghttps://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/Code-of-Ethics-English/Social-Workers-Ethical-Responsibilities-to-Clients
- 6National Association of Social Workers, Code of Ethics, standard 3.04 Client Recordssocialworkers.orghttps://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/Code-of-Ethics-English/Social-Workers-Ethical-Responsibilities-in-Practice-Settings
Laws and regulations3
- 745 CFR 164.501: definition of psychotherapy notes (eCFR)ecfr.govhttps://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/subtitle-A/subchapter-C/part-164/subpart-E/section-164.501
- 845 CFR 164.502(b): the minimum necessary standard (eCFR)ecfr.govhttps://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/subtitle-A/subchapter-C/part-164/subpart-E/section-164.502
- 945 CFR 164.524: right of access to protected health information (eCFR)ecfr.govhttps://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/subtitle-A/subchapter-C/part-164/subpart-E/section-164.524