Activities for Healthy and Building Relationships: Recognizing Qualities of Good Friends, Schemes and Mind Maps of Social Work

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ECOMAP

TOOLKIT

Table of Contents

Research

Ecomap Directions

How to Complete Ecomaps

Talk With Your Students

Matrix

Blank Ecomap

Individual Ecomap

Family Support Questionnaire

Community Ecomap

Ecomap Evaluation

Five Relationships

Strong Relationships

Ecomap Activities

Healthy Relationships

New Relationships

Improving Relationships

References

Additional Resources

Essentially, Ecomaps were intended to be a tool for creating a ‘snapshot’ picture of individuals in a support network and the types of relationships those individuals had. This visual tool is used by many social workers with families and individuals as a participatory way to involve clients in describing and organizing the various elements impacting their lives. Some question this method of research because of its the complexity of the ecological system of an individual that includes the family and the total environment. This diagram would essentially represent a social “solar system” in which a “Family genogram is placed in the position of the sun, at the center, and other important people and institutions in their life space are depicted with circles around the center, like planets around the sun” (Michigan State University, n.d.). Ecomaps were created in the 1970s by a social worker named Dr. Ann Hartman. Her goal was to capture and organize An Ecomap can be a powerful tool for discovering possible sources of depression and anxiety as well as uncovering hidden support systems in friends, neighbors, clubs, professional agencies, charities, and social or religious organizations. -(Making Access Happne, 2016) meticulousness, but others are strong proponents because it allows for collaboration. “Ecomaps…provide a way to visualize the quality of those connections either as positive and nurturing or negative wrought with conflict and stress. Connections can also be considered strong or weak" (ECOMAP, n.d.). An Ecomap is an important diagram that maps family and community systems’ process over time. They represent a type of research that uses an “Approach in which participants gather data in their own setting, give voice to participants who are some-times overlooked, and allows a practitioner’s knowledge to benefit a study" (Bennet and Grant, 2016 ).

Research

What is An Ecomap?

An Ecomap can be used to gain a greater understanding of the client and the relationships that influence them. It is a good way to start a discussion and ask the right questions in counseling. Robin McWilliam, Ph.D., began using Ecomaps as a component of his Routines Based Intervention approach. In his article "Understanding the Family Ecology" ( 2001 ), Dr. McWilliam calls the Ecomap the “most important activity of the intake visit.” It provides the team with the family’s “perceived informal, formal and immediate supports” (Making Access Happen, 2016 ). Additionally, Ecomaps are useful because they “assist clients in describing, organizing, and understanding the ways in which the client relates to and with each of the systems in their lives. Ecomaps reveal not only the relationships themselves, but the quality of those relationships in the ways that the client chooses to classify them” (The Ecomap – A Social Work Assessment Tool, n.d.). They can also assist in providing the interviewer with family information. It is critical to understand the people with whom families are connected–so as to utilize their existing supports without inventing new ones. Understanding the social supports of families is positively linked with achievement of early intervention outcomes.

Research

Why Are They Important? Ecomaps give workers a comprehensive picture of many things, to include: family dynamics, connections to their social systems and the community, the family unit’s level of connection to the external world, areas of deprivation where resources may be needed or strengthened, and areas of service duplication.

• Brandi Brown and Wendy, Alabama’s Early Intervention System

Explain what an Ecomap is. Remind your student that they do

not have to share anything that they are not comfortable with.

How to Complete Ecomaps Every Site Coordinator is tasked with completing an Ecomap for each of their caseload students. These documents are completed at the beginning and at the end of the year.

Steps

3 to fill out Ecomaps

**1.

3.** Talk With Your Student Utilize the Ecomap Matrix Fill Out the Blank Ecomap Talk With Your Student

Filling out a student's Ecomap can be tricky as there can be inconsistencies in how students classify "Strong," "Stressed," and "Broken" relationships. For example, one student can state he has a "Broken" relationship with his mother because she would not let him have a cookie for breakfast while another student might classify her relationship with her mother as "Broken" because she hasn't spoken to her mother in three years. These inconsistencies led to the creation of a document designed to assist in determining relationship scores for your student's Ecomaps. This document is called the Ecomap Matrix. Site Coordinators can use this document when filling out Individual Ecomaps with their students. The domain questions in the Ecomap Matrix have been created based on the five elements the Search Institute has identified that make relationships powerful in young people’s lives. Young people are more likely to grow up successfully when they experience developmental relationships with important people in their lives. Developmental relationships are close connections through which young people discover who they are, cultivate abilities to shape their own lives, and learn how to engage with and contribute to the world around them.

Your student's immediate relationships

Family, friends, neighbors, teachers, etc.

The quality of those relationships, as classified by the

client

The individual's ecology and his/her/their environment

An assessment of his/her/their ecology

Individual Ecomaps Give Workers a Comprehensive Picture of: Utilizing the Ecomap Matrix

Total scores that fall in the range 5 - 11: Broken Relationship Total scores that fall in the range 12 - 18: Stressed Relationship Total scores that fall in the range 19 - 25: Strong Relationship Example 1: In this example, the Site Coordinator has gone through the Ecomap Matrix with his/her/their student. The Site Coordinator has circled the score that best reflected the answer that the student gave to the domain questions. After going through each question, the Site Coordinator has tallied up the scores for a total score of 16. Using the key, the Site Coordinator now knows that he/she/they can classify this relationship as "Stressed" on the Ecomap. The Site Coordinator will repeat this process for each student relationship listed on his/her/their Ecomap. This document can be found on the X Drive here: X:\Field Operations\Eco Mapping\Research Utilizing the Ecomap Matrix Example 1

Fill Out the Blank Individual Ecomap Now that you have completed the Ecomap Matrix, you are ready to fill out your student's Individual Ecomap. Write the student's name on the line and the names of those with whom your student has a relationship in the circles. To Fill in The Individual Ecomap: Dad Sarah Younger Sister Rosie Older Sister Jim Friend Joe Friend Mom John Doe Student's Name

Family members connections to social support systems Housing/income support, counseling, justice programs, etc. Family members connections to their community Family friends, neighbors, sports clubs, spiritual influences, etc. The whole family unit's level of connectedness to the external world Areas of deprivation where sources may need to be mobilized Areas of service duplication Community Ecomaps Give Workers a Comprehensive Picture of: Expanding Upon Your Student's Ecomap

After completing the required Individual Ecomap for their

students, some Site Coordinators might want to expand upon

the activity. In this case, the Site Coordinator would complete

the Community Ecomap for his/her/their Student.

To complete a Community Ecomap, the Site Coordinator will

need to utilize the Family Supports Questionnaire during one

of the monthly check-ins with their student's legal guardians.

Community Ecomap

How to Determine the Relationship Score: If the relationship is “Broken,” it will be represented by a line on the Ecomap If the relationship is “Stressed,” it will be represented by a line on the Ecomap If the relationship is “Strong,” it will be represented by a line on the Ecomap

Go through each domain question with your family. If they answer

“No,” move onto the next question. If they answer “Yes,”

determine whether it is a “Broken,” “Stressed,” or “Strong”

relationship.

/--/--/

Family Supports

Questionnaire:

Utilizing the Family Supports Questionnaire

Fill Out the Blank Community Ecomap

Write the student's name in the center box. Fill the boxes at

the top with the student's family and friends. Boxes on the

side will be filled with places of support. Boxes on the

bottom will be filled with community resources the family

utilizes.

To Fill in The Community Ecomap: Name: Fill the bottom with names of people and places that provide support to you and your family. Fill the sides of the map with support places like church, work, school, etc. Fill the top with names of friends, family, and neighbors. People you see most. John Doe Mom Dad Sarah-Lil^ Sis Rosie-Older Sis Jim-Friend Joe-Friend School

Baptist Church

CIS

Food Stamps

Mrs. Smith - Social Worker

Connect the outside boxes to the box in the center with the correct relationship line. Strong Relationship: Stressed Relationship: Broken Relationship: To Fill in The Community Ecomap: /--/--/ Name: Fill the bottom with names of people and places that provide support to you and your family. Fill the sides of the map with support places like church, work, school, etc. Fill the top with names of friends, family, and neighbors. People you see most. John Doe Mom Dad Sarah-Lil^ Sis Rosie-Older Sis Jim-Friend Joe-Friend School

Baptist Church

CIS

Food Stamps

Mrs. Smith - Social Worker /--/--/--/ /--/--/ Fill Out the Blank Community Ecomap

How Do Ecomaps Relate to Communities In Schools of Mid-America? As a Site Coordinator, you are probably thinking, "I've finished my Ecomaps, and now what? How can I use this information I have learned from these documents?" Don't worry! We've got your back. Young people are more likely to grow up successfully when they experience developmental relationships with important people in their lives. Founder of CIS, Bill Milliken said, This relationship gap is more pronounced and concerning for young people from marginalized communities. By addressing this gap, CIS can help its students address the inequities they experience in many facets of their lives, including education. If a student is in adverse circumstances at home, the adults in his or her life may not be able to provide all five elements that encompass a developmental relationship. Non-existent relationships or relationships with missing elements leave a gap in our lives (Erquiaga, 2018 ). Since Ecomaps demonstrate the relationships in student's lives and the strength of those relationships, Site Coordinators can use these documents to determine relationships that may need improving and if students are lacking healthy relationships. How to Evaluate Ecomaps It is relationships, not programs, that change children…’ We now know that relationships have a lot to do with brain development…the ‘relationship gap’ is having serious impacts on how young people learn - or rather, don't” (Erquiaga, 2018).

What is a Healthy Relationship Goal? Typically, we have a core group of five very close friends — something Robin refers to as our ‘support clique.’ They're our real, ride- or-die, deep, meaningful connections (Leaver, 2020 ). How to Evaluate Ecomaps So, how many developmental relationships should a person have? Is there a limit to the number of close connections a person can have? According to evolutionary psychologist from Oxford University, Dr. Robin Dunbar, the size of the average person's neocortex, the part of our brain responsible for sensory perception as well processing language and emotion, and concluded that our minds can deal with roughly 150 close connections. Within this number, one can break the connections down into categories according to intimacy. We tend to have a cluster of 10 close connections who round out our most important support network (Leaver, 2020 ). After that, we have around 35 individuals that we would refer to as "friends" if we ran into them at the store, but they are not people we would talk to every day. Then, we have 100 people that we would consider our acquaintances (Leaver, 2020 ). This core group of five people are the individuals that are essential to a person's happiness, self- esteem, and wellbeing. "Research by an academic called Susan Degges-White found that people with three to five close friends report the highest levels of life satisfaction" (Leaver, 2020 ). Since research demonstrates that five close relationships promote the highest levels of satisfaction, the goal for our caseload students is to have five strong relationships. This can be completed by introducing new relationships or improving existing relationships.