A brand new tool for virtual telehealth sandtray therapy
Our son Michael was home for finals week, finishing up the second year of his masters at the University of Texas. Everything was online by this point, due to the pandemic: my practice, his finals, the whole world. We were talking over lunch one day, about how the world was going to be different after this. How many things would be online, and what that would mean for us all.
“I wish there was some way to offer sand tray therapy online,” I said. “Of course it would have to be super simple for me to use, and it has to look cute. It can’t be frustrating. I’m already frustrated by the Coronavirus. It would have to be fun and easy. Clients would need to be able to work on their screen, and share their screen with me.”
“Yeah,” he said. “I could probably do that.”
I ran the idea by my husband, Andy, who’s a business analyst and systems manager, and the two of them were off and running with my dream.
Jake, our youngest, put their brand-new design degree to use creating the user interface/user experience. If it looks nice, it’s because Jake.
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Those are big goals for a little app created around our kitchen table, I know, but I have overwhelming confidence in our ability, as therapists and caring humans, to take a simple tool and use it for good.
After all, the originators of sand tray therapy did just that: they took a box of sand and some miniatures and they trusted that human beings, even very young ones, could use those simple items for therapeutic expression, emotional processing, and personal growth.
Our vision at Simply Sand Play is to bring the healing power of the sand tray to as many people as possible, via telehealth sessions and at home, at this time when our planet is in such deep pain.
I wanted Simply Sand Play to feel, in my body, as much like my real-life sand tray experiences as possible: calming, meditative, intuitive. My thinking brain is quieted, my bodily wisdom speaks, and the two become increasingly integrated. What arises in those experiences is, in my own personal experience, deeply transformative.
My vision for that sort of healing experience in the virtual space, along with the desire to provide that experience to the widest audience possible, has directed our choices in every way.
Our vision has set certain limitations, such as the item selection and the actions available. We opted to limit the cognitive load of multiple control options and overwhelming item selection to allow for more intuitive experiences. (We hope to add more items and actions as those features continue to serve our overall vision. Your subscription will always include any updates.)
Our vision, with its necessary limitations, has freed us in many other areas.
We’ve created an app that’s easy to use: our kid testers jumped right in with little or no instruction on the controls. Our adult testers (especially me) remained frustration-free.
We’re available to the broadest possible range of telehealth platforms for shared screen sessions.
We’ve set a price point that allows those on the strictest budgets to subscribe.
We believe that this is a moment in human history that calls on each of us to offer what we can toward our collective good.
Our family offers Simpy Sand Play as a gift to the human family in its time of distress.
We hope it helps.
Kay Bruner