Let's Explore

There’s a long history to Sandbox, going back to around 2012 or so. When the company originally formed, video games fueled its inception. Specifically, the genre of sandbox games!

In a sandbox game the player is offered various tools that they then have the freedom to explore and craft their gameplay. Meaning, their journey unfolds in a non-linear way, without predetermined instructions or predefined objectives.

The player invents their purpose by having unrestricted access to their entire gaming world (the box) with the ability to change their world at will (the sand and accompanying bucket & shovel). This approach to a highly tailored, self-driven environment is how Sandbox Therapy Group spawned!

We are a company whose lens aspires to place fun at the forefront of care, and while form (techniques to learn new skills and receive personalized support) and functionality (root of areas of needs) has its place in due time, our team see ourselves as the experts in mental health care and you as the guide in how your care should unfold – playfully, practically, and pragmatically speaking!

Together, Sandbox Therapy Group hopes to create a therapeutic narrative that honors your preferences to play, create, learn, and be taught what you are seeking in your mental health care! What this means in its simplest form is – ultimately, there is no “game” method, structure, or linear plot we impose on you without your approval and input!

Great question! It always makes our heart sad to hear phrases like “I’m too old to play!” If you ask us, somewhere along the way you may have learned, thought, or been told this, and here at Sandbox we simply do not agree! Toys are symbolic, and play brings ideas and language to life.

Play can be in the form of video games, toys, and any other recreational activities you experience enjoyment within. So, to answer this question, our therapeutic approach is for all ages and we firmly stand behind believing that playing is, too.

Our clinical work is rooted in therapeutic assessment (across the lifespan):

Our goal is to synergistically combine our expertises of assessment and treatment with your expertise of who you are and what brought you to us. Together, we shape your care into something we can both agree on. We do this by creating an open-ended, two-way street atmosphere where you feel comfortable being you, expressing yourself, and leave with a deeper understanding of how to be the best you you can (and want to) be! Some more details of how this commonly unfolds is below.

Process for this:

Step 1: Symbols: Work alongside patients to gain a cursory view of their worldview and culture(s), how they are operating in the environments they are within, and gather patterns to decipher how their behaviors might be functioning in their life. Some ways we do this include:

-Screening for crisis/higher level of care (biopsychosocial factors).

-Balancing observing and inquiring.

-Mapping of goals, expectations, psychoeducation, and possible pathways forward.

-Litmus test for motivation, abilities, and willingness to change.

-Assessment of the personalized questions you seek to answer.

-Formulate functions of behaviors.

-Discuss what change may look like in the future to honor your goals.

Step 2 Systems: Gain an in-depth, expansive understanding of how behaviors play a role within the various parts of their life – work, school, hobbies, leisure, and social (family, friends) life.

Step 3 Synergy: Collaboratively create their treatment plan with a deeper understanding of the interplay between their patterns, play, and performance.

While many view mental health care (therapy and/or assessment) as a way to identify a diagnosis a professional assigns, we view it as an engaging, enlightening, and empowering process. Sure, a diagnosis may ultimately be met, and if this is true our hope is you will have words to understand who you are, how your brain (and body) sees and interacts with the world, and what you could potentially do about it based on respecting your voice, viewpoint, and vision.

Nope – at this time we do not have one!

Unfortunately, this is an incredibly common reported statement patients say to us when they seek our services. When working with these populations, especially when a person expresses hesitancies and fears due to prior ableism or inexperienced professionals, a lot of how we approach our care is by doing our best to set a solid foundation at the outset.

We do this by being curious and asking questions in as sensitive of a way as possible, we aim to understand a person’s identity – we recognize this is not necessarily permanent and thus appreciate its fluid nature, ask if we can discuss any prior trauma and misunderstandings that has occurred to do our best to avoid this, explore what the patient’s lived experiences are, what is important in their care, ensuring we are checking-in if anything is changing or needing to shift gears (like to slow down or speed up) along the way, create a space the patient is able to be as honest as possible, and pausing periodically to reflect back in efforts to gain clarity if we are on the same page.

Overall it is a fair amount of doing our best to ask the questions to avoid assuming, move at the pace that is best suited for their needs to capture what we need to move towards the best and most appropriate care they are seeking. We aim to take our time, dig-deep to find the roots and functions, be efficient and effective, include the patient in decisions, keep their voice at the forefront since they are the expert in who they are, and focus on the patient’s agenda while embedding suggestions we have along the way to see what might stick or need to be recalibrated.

If you ever experience frustrations along the way and believe your insurance is not supporting your medically necessary care, you can always file a complaint to the Office of Insurance Commissioner:

https://www.insurance.wa.gov/file-complaint-or-check-your-complaint-status

At Sandbox Therapy Group, assessment and evaluation are two processes used to gather information and make judgments about different aspects of a situation, performance, or person. Here’s a simple way to explain the difference between the two:

1. Assessment: Think of assessment as the gathering of information. It’s like taking a snapshot or a measurement of something at a particular point in time. Assessment focuses on gathering data, observing, and collecting information about a person, thing, or situation. It often involves tests, observations, or other methods to gather data. For example, in education, teachers assess students’ understanding by giving quizzes or tests.

2. Evaluation: Evaluation, on the other hand, is almost like an additive step… it involves making judgments or interpretations based on the information gathered through assessment. It’s like looking at the snapshot taken during assessment and determining its quality, effectiveness, or value. Evaluation involves analyzing data, making comparisons, and drawing conclusions. For instance, in education, after assessing students’ performance through tests, teachers evaluate their progress to determine if they’ve achieved the learning objectives.