What an ecomap is
An ecomap (also written eco-map) is a picture of a person or family inside their world. The household sits in a circle in the middle. Around it are circles for the systems it deals with: relatives, friends, school, work, a faith community, doctors and therapists, child welfare, the courts, the benefits office. The line drawn to each circle tells you what kind of relationship it is, and arrows show whether time, energy and resources flow toward the family, away from it, or both ways.
Social worker Ann Hartman developed the ecomap in the 1970s and published it in 1978, drawing on ecological systems thinking: you cannot understand a family without the environment it lives in. It is still a standard assessment tool in social work, family therapy, counseling, nursing and case management, because a single page shows where a family’s support is thin, where it is overloaded and where conflict sits.
Ecomap vs genogram
A genogram looks back and down the generations: who is related to whom, marriages and divorces, and patterns such as illness, addiction or conflict passed through a family. An ecomap looks outward at the present: which systems the household is connected to today, and how well those connections work. The two complement each other. Hartman herself suggested drawing a small genogram of the household inside the ecomap’s center circle, which is what this tool does with the people you list.
Ecomap symbols and what the lines mean
There is no single official notation, and textbooks differ slightly, but these are the conventions most instructors and agencies expect. Whatever you use, include a legend. This tool adds one automatically and lists only the line types on your map.
| Line | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Strong | A close, dependable, positive tie. Many ecomaps draw it as a thick line or three parallel lines. |
| Moderate | An ordinary working relationship: present, neither especially close nor troubled. |
| Weak or tenuous | A thin or unreliable connection: rare contact, a service the family barely uses, a tie that could easily lapse. |
| Stressful | The relationship causes strain or conflict. Drawn as a zigzag or a hatched line (+++), depending on the textbook. |
| Stressful but strong | Important and close, but also a source of strain, such as a benefits office the family depends on. |
| Broken or cut off | The relationship has ended or been cut off: a lost job, an estranged relative, a closed case. |
| Arrow | Direction of energy, time or resources. Toward the household means it receives; away means it gives. Arrows at both ends show a two-way exchange. |
Some practitioners also use line thickness alone for strength (thicker is stronger), or color for stress. Thickness and pattern print reliably in black and white, so this tool sticks to those.
How to make an ecomap
- Start with the household. Open the Household tab, name the household and add the people who live together, adults first. Each person appears as a small genogram symbol with their age and role.
- Add systems. On the Systems tab, click a category such as School, Work or Health care. Rename it to the real organization or person and add a short note, for example “Jake, 3rd grade; IEP for reading.”
- Choose a connection for each system. Pick strong, moderate, weak, stressful, stressful but strong, or broken. Be honest: the stressful and broken lines are often the most useful part of the assessment.
- Add energy flow. Choose whether the arrow points toward the household (it receives support), away from it (it gives energy), or both ways.
- Add individual ties. When one person has their own relationship with a system, such as a child and their grandparents, add it on the Other lines tab. You can also connect two systems, for example a court and child welfare.
- Arrange and export. Circles are spaced evenly around the household. Drag any circle to move it, or select it and use the arrow keys. Name the ecomap in the bar above the map and add the date and “prepared by” on the Page tab. Then click Download PDF at the top right, or open the menu beside it for PNG, SVG or print.
Your ecomap saves itself in this browser as you work. To keep a copy or move it to another computer, use Save file; Open file loads it again.
Ecomap example: the Rivera household
The map you see when you first open this page is a fictional example. Tom (37) and Maria (34) live with their children Jake (8) and Sofia (4). Reading it clockwise from the top:
- Maternal grandparents: strong line, arrow toward the family. They look after Sofia three days a week.
- Lincoln Elementary and youth soccer: moderate. The school line runs both ways because Maria attends IEP meetings and the school supports Jake’s reading.
- Community health clinic: moderate, resources flowing in. A line from the clinic to family counseling records that the clinic made the referral.
- Family counseling: weak for now. It started six weeks ago and the relationship is still forming.
- SNAP and Medicaid: stressful but strong. The family relies on these benefits, and the coming recertification is a worry.
- Tom’s former employer: broken. He was laid off in March.
- Maria’s work: stressful, with energy flowing out. Night shifts keep the household afloat and wear her down.
- Paternal relatives: stressful in both directions after a dispute over a loan.
- St. Anne’s parish: weak, a resource the family could draw on more.
How to read an ecomap
Once it is drawn, look at the overall balance rather than single lines:
- Where do the arrows point? A household with most arrows flowing out is giving more than it gets. In the example, the job loss and night shifts drain energy while help comes mainly from grandparents and public benefits.
- Which supports are strong, and how many are there? One strong tie carrying the whole family (here, the grandparents) is a risk if it breaks.
- What is stressful or cut off? These show where intervention may help: the benefits recertification, the conflict with Tom’s family, a plan for Tom’s employment.
- What is weak but could be built up? The parish and the new counseling relationship are possible sources of support.
- What is missing? No friends, no neighborhood ties and no help for Tom are findings too.
Ecomaps work best drawn with the family, not about them. Talking through each line often brings out information a standard interview misses. Date every version: redrawing the map after a few months shows what has changed.
Tips for assignments and case files
- De-identify. Switch on De-identify before exporting a client ecomap for class. Names become initials, but rename schools, employers and towns yourself.
- Keep labels short. Put the organization in the name and the detail in the note. Long notes are shortened on the figure.
- Caption it in APA style. Above the image: Figure 1 in bold, then an italic title such as Ecomap of the R. Household. Below it, a note if needed.
- Pick the right file. PNG at 2x drops cleanly into Word, Google Docs or slides; SVG stays sharp at any size; PDF is best for printing or handing in.
- Follow your course. If your instructor uses hatched lines for stress, change the style on the Page tab.