Ecograms
As its name suggests, this session is all about getting to know the YP you are working with. This is an important part of relationship building. You may know the YP quite well already, but you may not know much about their views on relationships or have explored how they feel about the relationships in their own family. In this module there are some fun and interactive exercises for finding out more about the YP without asking direct questions which can feel intrusive and uncomfortable for YP. You can share little pieces of information about your own family and relationships to help strengthen your bond prior to doing the work. As always only share what is safe and comfortable to do so.
From Session 3 onwards, this programme is designed to be run as either group or individual sessions for flexibility. The pre-work (Sessions 1 and 2) on the other hand, is best completed on an individual basis as a preparation for the following sessions or to prepare the YP for groupwork.
It may be that information arises from this pre-work session that makes you feel that someone is or could be at risk from the YP you are working with. If this occurs then refer back to Session 1 regarding safety to ensure you have covered what you need to. This might involve helping the YP to put a Time Out Plan in place, as well as completing a Safety Risk Indicator Checklist and a Safety Plan with any potential victims if you are able to contact them.
- To gain a good understanding of the YP’s world
- For the YP to explore their support system
- For the YP to be able to assess who, if anybody, is at risk
- For the YP and practitioner to begin relationship building
In order to be responsive to the YP, it is helpful to have a box of buttons, shells, pebbles or other small objects available for times when you want to complete an Ecogram. The YP then picks the buttons or shells that best represent them and also the people around them. Other YP may engage more easily with drawing or naming themselves on the Ecogram, or even using animals as representations of people in their lives. Be open to creative ideas that will best enable the YP to express their world in this exercise.
