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Knowing Your Environment
An eco-map is a written diagram (“map”) of an individual’s environment (“eco”). Social workers use eco-maps as simple tools to chart and assess both positive and negative relationships within social environments, families and groups. For those whose lives have been altered by grief and trauma, eco-maps may help to:
- Determine positive (+) social supports and assist in strengthening those relationships
- Determine negative (-) social supports and assist in modifying those relationships
- Provide clarity and focus about social, emotional, behavioral and spiritual relationships
- Decrease anxiety, stress & pressure in relation to social situations
Try this A2Z Activity: Knowing Your Environment Eco Map Exercise(PDF)
Resources
Books
- It’s OK That You’re Not OK: Meeting Grief and Loss in a Culture that Doesn’t Understand by Megan Devine
- On Grief and Grieving by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and David Kessler
- Permission to Mourn: A New Way to Do Grief by Tom Zuba
- The Ten Things to Do When Your Life Falls Apart by Daphne Rose Kingma
Websites
- Smart Draw - Explanation of Ecomaps and sample Ecomaps.
- A Simple Guide to Ecomaps from StrongBonds.com
How will you get to know your new environment to help your healing journey
