Sandoria: A Guide for Psychologists

1. What a session looks like

Important: Sandoria does not replace Zoom, Teams, or any other video-call service.

A regular online meeting continues just as before: the psychologist and the client call each other and see one another. During the session, they additionally open Sandoria (the psychologist sends the session link to the client in chat).

This creates two spaces:

• —the video call — for contact between psychologist and client;
• —Sandoria — the shared sandbox space.

The client works with figures directly on their own screen. The psychologist sees the changes in the same sandbox in real time. That's why the client does NOT need to share their screen.

This is a fundamental difference from situations where a psychologist opens some online game on their own screen and asks the client to say where to move a figure. Here the client remains the one who acts: they choose figures, move them, and arrange the space.

2. What you'll need

On the psychologist's side:

• —a specialist account in Sandoria;
• —a computer or laptop;
• —a stable internet connection;
• —an open video call;
• —a browser with Sandoria.

No special registration is required on the client's side. They receive an individual session link from the psychologist and enter the sandbox through it.

For comfortable work, a computer or tablet with a sufficiently large screen is best. On a small phone screen, the sandbox space and the figure library are considerably less convenient.

On a tablet, hold the device horizontally. The sandbox interface is designed for landscape orientation.

3. Before the first session

If the client has never used Sandoria before, it's enough to give them a heads-up in advance:

"During our session I may suggest working together in an online sandbox. I'll send a separate link. There's nothing to install or learn beforehand."

When working with a child, you can discuss the technical side with a parent in advance: which device the child will connect from, whether they can use a mouse or trackpad, and whether they can switch between windows on their own.

If a parent helps open the link, it's best that the child not depend on the adult for every technical step. Otherwise, instead of the space of child — therapist — sandbox, another permanent participant appears who can significantly influence the process.

4. How to begin

Start with a regular session in Zoom, Teams, or whichever program you use.

You don't have to open Sandoria from the first minute of the meeting. Just as in an in-person practice, the client isn't required to come to the sandbox at every session — the online sandbox is simply one of the available spaces for therapy.

When you decide to move to the sandbox:

• —create a session in Sandoria;
• —copy the individual link;
• —send the link to the client through your usual messenger or the video service's chat;
• —the client opens the link;
• —you find yourselves in the same sandbox space.

The psychologist creates the session on their side. The client doesn't need a separate account for this.

5. How to arrange your windows

Both the video call and the sandbox need to stay available on one computer at the same time. There are a few convenient options.

• —keep the client's video as a small window on top of the browser with Sandoria;
• —place Zoom/Teams and the browser side by side;
• —use two devices — for example, a computer for the sandbox and a tablet for the video call. In that case, it's best to leave the sound and microphone enabled on only one device to avoid echo.

It matters for the therapist not to lose sight of the client behind the sandbox, where possible. How a person moves, slows down, gets irritated, searches for a long time for a figure, changes their mind, looks at you, or stops looking at you can be just as meaningful as the final composition.

6. Introducing the client to the sandbox

You don't need to start by showing the person every category of figures and every interface feature in detail. A minimal technical framing is better.

For example:

"This is a sandbox (like the one in our office). There's a field here and different figures. You can choose any figures, place them wherever you want, move them around, and change them. There's no need to do anything correctly here or come up with a beautiful picture."

After that, you can show where the figures are and how to place the first one in the sandbox. From there, it makes sense to let the client explore the space on their own.

7. What's in the sandbox

Sandoria has the sandbox field itself and a library of figures organized into categories. The client can choose figures, place them in the sandbox, and change their arrangement.

The interface also has tools for working with a selected figure and the ability to save snapshots of the composition that's been created.

It matters for the specialist to get familiar with the library fairly quickly, though it's not necessary to memorize where every figure is.

In a real room, a client can also spend a long time walking along the shelves, looking at objects, and searching for something that fits. The search itself is part of the process. The same applies to the virtual space.

There's no need to rush to find a figure for the client every time they don't notice it themselves.

8. Who is in charge of the sandbox

Technically, Sandoria creates a shared online space. If you work within the logic of classical sandplay, the client remains the primary author of the sand picture.

If a child asks: "Where's the car here?" — you can help them find the category or show them the navigation.

But if they ask: "Where should I put the car?" — that's no longer a technical question. At this point, the space belongs to the client again. You can answer: "Wherever you'd like."

If you use directive techniques, joint construction, or play-based methods in which the therapist also places objects, that is, of course, possible. It matters to distinguish between the technical ability to interact with the space and the therapeutic technique you've chosen.

9. Free or directed work

Sandoria can be used in different ways.

For classical free work, the invitation can be minimal: "You can do anything you like here," or "You can look at the figures and choose whatever you feel like taking."

Sandoria can also be used for directed tasks — for example, working with relationships, a family image, a conflict, a dream, a fear, a life situation, or a particular fantasy.

In that case, the very fact of giving a task should be a therapeutic decision made by the specialist, not a way to help the client build something quickly.

10. If the client says, "I don't know what to do"

This is a very familiar situation from in-person work too.

You can say:

• —"It's fine to just look for now";
• —"You can start with any figure that caught your attention";
• —"You don't have to plan anything ahead of time";
• —"You can place one figure and see what happens next."

Or you can simply leave a pause. Not having an idea is also part of the session.

11. If the client takes a long time choosing figures

This doesn't have to be treated as a technical problem. In a virtual space, it's especially easy to start helping: naming a category, suggesting where to look, recommending a similar figure.

Sometimes help really is needed, but it's worth first noticing the process itself. Is the client going through many figures?

• —Coming back to the same one?
• —Unable to find "just the right one"?
• —Picking something suitable, then deleting it?
• —Getting frustrated because the object they want isn't there?
• —Giving up on the idea?

These processes can be informative.

12. If the figure you need isn't there

No real or virtual collection can contain every possible object. There's no need to immediately find a symbolic equivalent on the client's behalf.

You can say: "That figure isn't here right now. See if you'd like to use something else instead, or leave that spot without a figure."

• —The client may choose a substitute.
• —They may assign meaning to a completely different object: "Let this stone be a person."
• —They may decide that the figure's absence matters.
• —They may abandon that part of the composition.

How the limitation gets resolved also belongs to the client.

13. Watch the process, not just the final picture

Therapeutic material emerges in the process of creation. It's useful to notice:

• —which figure the client chooses first;
• —which categories they keep returning to;
• —what they search for a long time;
• —what they place and then remove;
• —which figures they keep moving;
• —where empty spaces appear;
• —how the organization of the sandbox changes;
• —which elements appear right at the end;
• —the moment the client turns to you;
• —what happens with their pace, voice, body, and emotional state.

This is why the psychologist's presence in the shared sandbox in real time is substantially different from a situation where the client builds a composition on their own and sends the specialist only a finished screenshot.

14. What changes compared to an in-person sandbox

An online sandbox is not an exact copy of a wooden tray of sand. It lacks a number of the sensory qualities of a physical space, and that matters.

The virtual environment gains other properties:

• —the client acts in the space independently, while at home;
• —the psychologist sees what's happening at the same time;
• —you can move quickly between conversation and image and back;
• —the sandbox becomes available to clients the specialist isn't physically in the same city or country with at all.

And the screen, the interface, the distance, and even technical limitations themselves become part of the therapeutic setting.

15. Don't compensate for the absence of real sand with extra words

When moving online, there's sometimes a feeling that, since there's no bodily contact with sand, the work needs to be filled with questions and interpretations. This more often produces the opposite result.

If the client creates an image, let the image exist. Symbolic work stays symbolic on screen too.

16. Ending the work

Once the composition is finished, it's useful to give the client some time to look at it.

You can ask: "Is there anything else you'd like to change here?" or "How does it feel to look at what came out?"

But discussion isn't a required step for every piece of work. The client may not have words. They may say only: "That's it." That can be enough.

17. Saving the work

After the composition is created, the specialist can save a snapshot of the sandbox. Do not send these to third parties.

If you use the archive in your account, it's best not to include more identifying information in the name than you actually need (you can leave out the surname and use pseudonyms).

18. Working with adults

When offering the sandbox to an adult client, you might say: "If it's hard to put this into words right now, we could try working with an image instead. I have an online sandbox where you can arrange figures and see what comes of it."

Or: "We could try picturing this situation not just in words, but in space."

For adult clients too, it matters especially to give permission not to do this 'correctly.' A person may take a long time choosing, try to build an aesthetically pleasing composition, or rationally explain every move to themselves.

That's not a technical error. It can be worked with the same way as any other way of entering a symbolic space.

19. If a child just starts "playing with the computer"

It's worth not rushing to separate "therapeutic play" from "just play." A child gets familiar with a new space in whatever way is available to them.

Especially at the first meeting with Sandoria, they may experiment with buttons, rearrange figures, test the limits, and swap objects quickly. The interface, too, needs to become familiar before it stops taking up all of their attention.

If, after a while, the technical experimenting starts to fully crowd out contact and therapeutic work, that can already be considered within the relationship — the same way you would consider a child constantly throwing toys around, testing the room's rules, or avoiding contact in an in-person office.

20. A technical glitch is not a failure of therapy

The internet can freeze. The client may accidentally close the window. The page may refresh. The video call may drop.

It matters especially that the psychologist's anxiety in that moment isn't greater than the client's. First, restore the technical connection.

If technical disruptions keep happening, provoke strong reactions, or become a recurring part of the relationship, the client's attitude toward these events can genuinely turn out to be meaningful for the process. The online environment is part of the setting.

21. Confidentiality

The link to a specific session is meant for the psychologist and the client. It should not be forwarded to other people.

The same basic privacy requirements apply to online work as to in-person therapy. It's best to agree in advance that the client will be somewhere that outsiders can't overhear. When working with a child, discuss this separately with the parents.

If you save images of the sandbox, treat them as therapeutic material. For training, supervision, publications, and case presentations, follow the same professional confidentiality rules you follow when using photographs of real sand compositions.

25. What Sandoria does not require

To work in the sandbox, the client:

• —does not need to register;
• —does not need to install a separate program;
• —does not need to share their screen with the psychologist;
• —does not need to study the figures in advance;
• —does not need to know how to work with sandplay;
• —does not need to plan a composition before the session.

Opening the link they got from the psychologist is enough.

26. What's worth doing before working with your first client

Before your first real session, open Sandoria on your own so that during the meeting your attention can stay primarily with the client.

Try to:

• —find several different categories of figures;
• —place figures in the field, move them, and try the actions available for a selected figure;
• —build a small composition;
• —save a snapshot;
• —clear the sandbox;
• —create a test session and see what entering through the link looks like.

27. A short script for the first session

If it helps to have a very simple outline in front of you, here it is.

• —Before the meeting: the psychologist opens Sandoria and makes sure everything works.
• —Start of the meeting: the client and psychologist call each other as usual.
• —Moving to the sandbox: the psychologist creates a session and sends the client the link.
• —Entry: the client opens the link; no registration is needed.
• —Orientation: the psychologist briefly shows the basic navigation.
• —Work: the client chooses and arranges figures independently. The psychologist observes and stays in contact.
• —Ending: the client finishes the composition at their own pace.
• —Saving: the psychologist saves a snapshot of the work and clicks "end session."
• —Returning: if needed, the client and psychologist continue the meeting by talking in their usual video-call space.