Ecomap maker: build an ecomap online, free
A ready-made ecomap template: the family in the middle, the systems around it, and the standard lines for strong, weak and stressful ties – laid out for you as you type.
What is an ecomap, and how do you make one?
An ecomap is a diagram of a family and the outside world it depends on: the household sits in a circle in the middle, and the systems around it – work, school, health care, friends, faith, social services – sit in circles of their own. The line to each one shows the bond: thick for strong, dashed for weak, crossed through for stressful, with arrows for which way energy or resources flow.
- Social worker Ann Hartman introduced it in 1978, alongside the genogram, to assess a family in its environment.
- To make one: name the household, add each system it deals with, then rate every tie and its direction.
- The editor below does the layout for you – free, no sign-up – and exports PDF, PNG or SVG.
Start your ecomap below, or load the example and edit it.
Add the systems this family deals with – tap a quick-add chip below, or load the example.
How to make an ecomap in five steps
Put the family in the centre
Name the household – “Smith family” – and, if it helps, list who lives there. Some practitioners draw a small genogram inside the circle; here a line of names does the same job.
Add the systems around it
Ask what the family actually deals with: jobs, school, doctors, grandparents, church, benefits office, courts, neighbours, sports. Use the quick-add chips or type your own. Only add what is real for this family – an empty ecomap tells you something too.
Rate each bond
For each system choose strong, moderate, weak/tenuous or stressful. Rate the relationship as the family experiences it, not as it should be: a school can be strong for one child and stressful for the parents.
Show the direction of energy
Pick whether the system gives to the family (support, money, care), takes from it (time, stress, demands) or both. The arrows make imbalances obvious at a glance.
Export and revisit
Download a PDF for the case file or a PNG for a report. An ecomap is a snapshot – redo it after a move, a job loss or a new service, and compare.
Ecomap example: reading the Miller family
Tap “Load an example ecomap” in the editor. Read it from the centre outwards:
- Strong, giving ties: the grandparents (energy both ways – they help, and are helped) and the school, which supports Leo. These are the family's anchors.
- Stressful, draining ties: Dan's job and child services, both with arrows pointing away from the family. That is where the pressure comes from.
- Weak tie: the church – once part of their life, now a dashed line. A weak tie can be a resource worth reconnecting.
The useful question is rarely “what is wrong?” but “where is support missing, and which strong tie could carry more?” – here, perhaps, the health clinic or the neighbours.
Ecomap key: what the lines mean
- Thick line – strong, positive bond.
- Plain line – moderate bond.
- Dashed line – weak or tenuous bond.
- Line crossed with short strokes – stressful or conflictual bond.
- Arrow – direction in which energy, time or resources flow.
- No line – no connection, which can be as telling as a stressful one.
Conventions vary a little between textbooks – some use three parallel lines for “strong” – so the key is always printed under the ecomap you export.
Ecomaps in social work, nursing and therapy
Ann Hartman designed the ecomap in 1978 as a way for social workers to see a family “in its environment” on one page, and it is still taught that way. In child and family social work it shows which services are involved and how the family feels about each. Nurses and family-medicine teams use it next to the genogram to judge what support a patient can count on at home. Therapists use it to start a conversation: drawing it with the family often matters more than the finished picture.
For the family itself – generations, relationships, illness – use the genogram maker, and see ecomap vs genogram for when to use which.
Price
The ecomap maker is free to use. Free exports carry a light watermark; Pro (from $3.99/week) or the one-time $19 pass (14 days) removes it from ecomaps and genograms alike.
Frequently asked questions
- What is an ecomap used for?
- To see a family's resources and stressors in one picture: who supports them, which services they rely on, where the conflict or drain is, and which ties are missing. Social workers, family therapists, nurses and family-medicine teams use it in assessment and to plan where help should come from.
- What's the difference between an ecomap and a genogram?
- A genogram maps the family itself across generations – who is related to whom and how they get along. An ecomap maps the family's links to the outside world right now. They are used together; our genogram maker draws the family side.
- Is there a free ecomap template?
- Yes – the editor on this page is the template: the layout, symbols and key are built in, and you only fill in the systems. It is free; free exports carry a light watermark, which Pro or the one-time $19 pass removes.
- What symbols does an ecomap use?
- Circles for the family and each system; a thick line for a strong bond, a plain line for a moderate one, a dashed line for a weak or tenuous one, a line crossed with short strokes for a stressful one, and arrows for the flow of energy. The key is printed under every ecomap you export.
- Is my data stored anywhere?
- No. The ecomap stays in your browser's local storage on this device; nothing is sent to our servers. For client work, use initials rather than full names.
Source
Hartman A. Diagrammatic assessment of family relationships. Social Casework. 1978;59(8):465–476.
Em português: Ecomapa online