Ecomap

Intention:

Feeling connected to someone or something helps our health and well-being. The support system is that network of connections that we perceive offers us recognition, affection, assistance, or the feeling of belonging to a community. Individuals, groups, organizations, and institutions can serve as sources of support.

The ecomap is a diagram that illustrates a person’s place in a social context. It is a tool used to identify existing and potential sources of support for someone. The ecomap can also illustrate indicators of isolation, alienation, and sources of stress and conflict in the person's social context.

Drawing our ecomap contributes to our self-exploration for greater self-understanding. This exercise is an opportunity for anyone who wants to examine their social support network.

Instruction:

Place in the center of a page a family tree representing three generations of your family, including yourself.

The sources of support will be represented by triangles. Draw triangles around family members who you consider to be part of your support system. Draw genogram lines to illustrate the quality of those relationships. Outside of the family tree, draw triangles representing other sources of support, be they individuals, groups, or larger institutions that you perceive contribute to your sense of connection and community. Connect each of these triangles by means of lines symbolizing the quality of these relationships, and the relative distance between them and your figure.

Inspection:

·       What did you learn in the process of identifying and illustrating your support network?

·       As you examine your ecomap, do you notice any specific or general patterns?

·       Did this exercise stimulate any desire to create, heal, or strengthen connections between you and certain individuals or groups?

·       Who do you think would include you on their ecomap as sources of support or stress?

·       How can your support network benefit your community?

ECOMAP

Draw your ecomap, including the following, as relevant:

Relatives and significant others

Immediate family and relatives, friends, loves

Neighborhood

Neighbors, roommates, civic and religious groups

Work

Coworkers, colleagues, supervisors, supervisees, classmates, teachers

Service providers

Physical, dental, mental, legal health

Finances, education, childcare

Others

Interest-based entities, clubs, self-help groups