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Ecomap and Genogram
While they share the same visual language of shapes and lines to make connections, ecomaps and genograms are distinct tools meant for different purposes.
For a full guide, see how to make a genogram and the ecomap guide.
Main Differences
- The genogram maps the family's internal history; the ecomap maps its current external environment.
- The genogram spans multiple generations; the ecomap is a present-moment snapshot.
- The genogram includes family members only; the ecomap includes non-family systems, like schools, employers, services, community organizations.
- The genogram looks inward and backward; the ecomap looks outward at the present.
- The genogram is used in clinical, academic, and therapy contexts; the ecomap is used in social work, nursing, and community care.
How They're Used Together
Practitioners use both at intake because each one answers a question the other cannot.
- The genogram provides context: family history, intergenerational patterns, internal relationship dynamics, and significant losses.
- The ecomap provides the current picture: available resources, environmental stressors, and gaps in community support.
In practice:
- Social work intake: genogram establishes the family's history and internal dynamics; ecomap establishes what resources and stressors are present right now.
- Nursing family assessment: genogram maps health history across generations; ecomap maps the social and community factors around the patient's recovery.
- Family therapy: genogram surfaces relational patterns; ecomap shows what support exists outside the family system.
An Example
Take a single mother with two children.
Her genogram shows:
- Three generations; her parents, grandparents, and the children's father's family line.
- Health history on both sides.
- Relationship quality between her and her own parents.
- Whether single-parenting has appeared before in the family.
Her ecomap shows:
- Which school the children attend and how that relationship is functioning.
- Whether she has family nearby providing support.
- What her employer connection looks like.
- Whether she is registered with a GP.
- Where the stressors in her current environment sit.
The genogram explains context, while the ecomap shows what she has available right now.
For completed examples of both, see the ecomap example for social work and genogram for social work assessment.
When to Use Which
Use a genogram when:
- Mapping family history across generations.
- Identifying intergenerational patterns like health conditions, relationship dynamics, and behavioral patterns.
- Assessing internal family relationships and their quality.
- Completing a clinical or academic family assessment.
Use an ecomap when:
- Assessing a client's current support network.
- Identifying gaps in community resources.
- Mapping environmental stressors alongside available supports.
- Completing an intake or case review in social work or nursing.
Use both for:
- Social work intake assessment.
- Nursing family health assessment.
- Family therapy with a focus on both history and current environment.
- Child welfare case review.
FAQ
What is the difference between a genogram and an ecomap?
A genogram maps the family's internal structure and history across generations while an ecomap maps the family's current external environment.
What is a genogram and ecomap in social work?
In social work, a genogram is used to map a client's family history while an ecomap is used to map the client's current environment. Social workers often use both at intake to build a complete picture of the family's history and current situation.
Can you use a genogram and ecomap together?
Yes, they are designed to complement each other. The genogram provides historical and relational context, while the ecomap provides a snapshot of the current environment. Using both together gives a practitioner information that neither diagram provides alone. In social work, nursing, and family therapy, completing both at intake is common practice.
What does an ecomap and genogram example look like?
A genogram example shows a family mapped across three or more generations with standardized symbols for gender, relationship quality, health conditions, and life events. An ecomap example shows the same family in a hub-and-spoke layout with external systems mapped around them and line types indicating the quality of each connection.
Is there a template that includes both an ecomap and genogram?
Yes, you can find genogram and ecomap templates on Qwoach.
Sources
- Diagrammatic assessment of family relationships. Social Casework, 59(8), 465–476.
- Genograms: Assessment and Intervention (3rd ed.). W.W. Norton & Company.