Map a person's
support systems on iPad
Ecomap Creator is the ecomap tool clinicians and social workers actually want to carry into the room. Hartman-standard relationship lines, energy-flow direction on every edge, and on-device privacy by default.
Designed for iPad
Hartman-standard ecomap notation, rebuilt as a native iPad app. Tap, pinch, and draw through complex ecological networks — anywhere you take your iPad.
Start from a clinical scenario
Nine built-in templates — Strong Network, Foster Care, Recovery Journey, New Immigrant Family, and more — each with annotated notes ready to adapt.
Three decisions per line, nothing more
Every connection in Ecomap Creator captures the same three things Ann Hartman defined in 1978: which system, how strong the tie is, and which way the energy moves.
The center
One person or a whole family unit sits at the middle of the map. Capture age, pronouns, ethnicity, and the presenting concern in a single inspector pane.
The systems
Eighteen categories — family, friends, work, education, healthcare, mental health, substance, housing, food, transportation, financial, government, legal, religion, recreation, community, cultural, and pets.
Strength of connection
Six Hartman lines — strong, moderate, weak, stressful, conflictual, broken — plus an extended set for enmeshed, distant, ambivalent, cutoff, abusive, mandated, dependent, estranged, coercive, and emerging ties.
Direction of energy
One arrow per edge: toward the client, away from the client, mutual, or none. The direction is independent of the line style, so a strong but draining tie reads differently from a strong supportive one.
What is an ecomap?
An ecomap is a clinical diagram that places one person or family at the center and maps their connections to the systems around them: school, work, healthcare, family, friends, neighbors, faith communities, government, and community. It is the companion diagram to a genogram. Ann Hartman introduced the format in 1978 for use in social work assessment, and it remains the standard way to describe a client's ecological context.
Where a genogram looks backward through generations, an ecomap looks outward across the present. Each line in the diagram records two facts: how strong the connection is, and which way the energy flows. Together they reveal where a person is supported, where they are depleted, and where the next intervention should go.
Social-work assessment
Document a client's support systems, stressors, and unmet needs for case planning and supervision.
Family therapy
Surface the patterns a family lives inside — caregiver burden, isolation, intergenerational support.
Case management
Track how the network of services around a client changes over time, session to session.
Teaching and supervision
Use a shared visual vocabulary that students, supervisors, and consultants already know.
Built around clinical practice
Ecomap Creator is shaped by the workflow of licensed clinicians and social workers — tuned for iPad, designed for the room.
Hartman-standard lines
The full Hartman set — strong, moderate, weak, stressful, conflictual, broken — plus extended types for clinical nuance.
Energy-flow direction
Mark each line as toward the client, away, mutual, or none — independent of the line style.
Eighteen system categories
Family, work, school, healthcare, mental health, substance, housing, food, faith, community, and more — each sizeable to show prominence.
Export to PDF, PNG, SVG
High-resolution exports for case files, supervision, court reports, and presentations.
Apple Pencil & multitouch
Drag, pinch, and annotate directly on the canvas. Designed for the way clinicians actually work in-session.
Local-first & private
No analytics, no SDKs. Files live on your iPad and only sync to iCloud Drive if you turn it on.
How to draw an ecomap
The Hartman workflow, on iPad — four steps from a blank canvas to a finished assessment.
Place the center
Add the client or family at the middle of the canvas. Capture age, pronouns, ethnicity, and the presenting concern in the inspector.
Add the systems around them
Drop in the relevant systems — school, work, healthcare, family of origin, faith, friends, neighbors, government services. Size each one to show its prominence.
Draw the connections
Connect each system to the center with a Hartman line — strong, weak, stressful, conflictual, broken — and choose the direction of energy flow on each edge.
Export for the chart
Share to PDF, PNG, or SVG for the clinical record, supervision, or a case conference. Files stay on your iPad until you choose to send them.
Made for the people who use ecomaps
Ecomap Creator is built for the clinicians and social workers who already work in this notation.
Social workers
Case management, child welfare assessment, hospital discharge planning, and community-based work.
Family therapists
Mapping a family's ecological context alongside the genogram in family-systems work.
Care coordinators
Tracking the network of services around a client and where the gaps are session to session.
Students & educators
Teaching and learning Hartman's notation with a shared visual vocabulary on iPad.
Two plans, one app
Both plans include a 7-day free trial. Subscriptions are managed by Apple through the App Store and can be cancelled at any time.
For occasional ecomap work and supervision.
- Up to 10 ecomaps per year
- Hartman standard + extended notation
- Export to PDF, PNG, SVG
- 7-day free trial
For full caseloads and team practice.
- Unlimited ecomaps
- Hartman standard + extended notation
- Export to PDF, PNG, SVG
- 7-day free trial
Ecomap Resources
Guides, tutorials, and use-case pages for working with ecomaps.
How to Create an Ecomap ↗
Step-by-step Hartman workflow with examples and clinical tips.
Ecomaps for Social Workers ↗
Case management, child welfare, and community-based practice.
Ecomap Software for Therapists ↗
Family therapy, systems work, and clinical supervision.
Ecomap Templates ↗
Nine clinical starting points built in — adapt in one tap.
Ecomaps for Students ↗
Free trial for coursework in social work, nursing, and counseling.
Ecomap vs. Genogram ↗
When to use each diagram and how they complement each other.
Your client's ecomap, stays on your iPad
No analytics, no third-party SDKs, no servers reading your case files. Everything stays on-device by default, with optional iCloud Drive sync you control.
On-device encryption
Files are encrypted at rest under iOS Data Protection, keyed to your device passcode.
No tracking, no SDKs
The app ships without analytics, ads, or third-party telemetry. We do not see your sessions.
Local-first storage
Ecomaps live on your iPad. Nothing leaves the device unless you explicitly export or back up.
You control iCloud
Optional iCloud Drive sync uses your Apple ID. Apple holds the keys, not us.
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about Ecomap Creator for iPad.
Ready to draw your first ecomap?
Built for licensed clinicians and social workers. On-device, on iPad, ready to carry into the next session.
7-day free trial · Cancel anytime from the App Store