Using a `social atom` on the road to recovery

Whom or what are you carrying with you in your life today?

Who has had an impact (either positive or negative)?

Where is your disease stemming from?

Where will your recovery come from?

These are the types of questions that can be answered by a Social Atom. Michael Murphy, MFA, MSW, LCSW, described this assessment tool in a recent Addiction Professional webinar titled “Using the Social Atom to Treat Addicts and Assess Their Potential for Recovery.”

The tool is almost entirely subjective and gathers information about a person’s life. It is basically a map that uses shapes of various sizes to show the impact of each entity on a person’s life.

For example, circles represent women and squares represent men. So, the person creating the social atom would draw the appropriate shape for his/her gender on a piece of paper, and then place other circles and squares around his or her shape to show their influences.  Triangles represent anything non-human, including religion, occupation, pets, neighborhood, house, etc.  Clients are invited to alter the size and proximity of each shape to represent significant relationships.

 Because some people or places that may have made an impact on your life may no longer be around, these deceased entities are represented by dotted lines around the symbol.

Below is an example of someone’s social atom:

A social atom, in my perspective, is a way for the patient and the clinician to sit down and figure out where they can make changes to support their recovery. It’s looking at those things that are influences, good or bad, and figuring out how to correct or eliminate the bad ones.  Many times, when a person starts to delete all of the bad influences in his/her social atom, Murphy says he/she can end up with a lonely, depleted atom.  At that time, it is important to recognize the risks associated with a depleted social atom, and to ask the patient if his/her recovery journey will be worth it if he/she is alone.  Conversely, if a client’s social atom is overcrowded, he/she may feel overwhelmed, and that may be hindering his or her recovery.

From here, it’s important to look at setting goals, she says. “Negative” goals such as “I’m not going to drink or use” don’t go far enough, according to Murphy. She explains that it’s more beneficial to have positive goals structured to what a person will do instead of drinking or using.  Some examples include:

“I’m going to join a softball team, write a book, read a book, volunteer in the community, attend 12-Step meetings, focus on home improvements, or improve relationships with my loved ones.”

The social atom will help to assess and answer questions such as:

·        How does the client view her life today?

·        How does she view her life after treatment?

·        What kind of life does she want to have?

·        What does she need to change so that she can create the life she wants?

Examining clients’ social and relational world from a fresh perspective sometimes frees a person to begin discussing relationship issues more openly. Murphy says the social atom technique can be used and is effective with various age groups, including adolescents and adults. She has worked with the social atom in both treatment settings and her private practice.

Have you ever used the social atom in practice? If yes, I’d love to hear about it.