In trying to make my session not so talkative I have many times incporrated genograms while doing intake-I recently came to discover Ecomap and I must say that it has made some of my non creative sessions more interesting. I think as it is not used as an intake but more as an ongoing process to determine the current functioning and relationship of a client, I find it more fuild and organic as a process. I have taken it a step futher ad have inforporated mind mapping techniques to make it more visual and creative.

So want is eco mapping? One defination goes like this Ecomap is a a family assessment tool consisting of a graphic representation of a family relationship with its environment (The free medical dictionary by Farlex, 2013). Developed by Dr. Ann Hartman in 1975 as a way to graphically represent the different systems in an individual’s life and to diagram how those systems affect the individual. They are primarily used in counseling to evaluate the healthy or unhealthy relationships that an individual has with each system in his or her life.

More information can be found in

http://www.strongbonds.jss.org.au/workers/cultures/ecomaps.pdf

 

 

*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA