TOOLS OF THE BODEGA MODEL

Mapping

Maps are powerful diagnostic tools used not only by our family case managers at La Bodega but also as tools in Family Justice's family-focused trainings. They reveal and organize information about family and community. The actual process of mapping is also a great tool to foster connections.

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  The Genogram The Genogram: a family tree that shows elements of a family and the nature of its relationships. The Bodega Model's genogram also highlights family strengths and interactions - information that we can build on.
  
  
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  The Ecomap The Ecomap: a visual representation of valuable resources that a family is tied to. Visually, an ecomap resembles a diagram of a solar system or an atom: family in the center, other important people and institutions, depicted with circles, are like planets around the sun or electrons around a nucleus.
  
  An ecomap is more than just a list of resources, however. It also displays positive and conflicted relationships between families and services and between service agencies. It can help family case managers identify sources of support that might be tapped in new ways.

Supportive Inquiry

Instead of focusing on a family's weaknesses, such as substance abuse or criminal behavior, supportive inquiry promotes new insights into family strengths, productive behaviors, and successful coping mechanisms.

Creative questions form the foundation of supportive inquiry:

• Who was the last person to help you? Whom do you help?
• Whose pictures do you carry with you?
• How did you rise to the challenges before you?
• When things were going well, what was different?