Virtual Play Therapy Explained: Tools, Tips & Platforms for Play Therapists

Virtual play therapy isn’t the future anymore… it’s already here.

But let’s be real for a second—

Most platforms weren’t built for play therapists.

They weren’t designed to engage children using play therapeutically.
 For expressive play.
 For the kind of symbolic, relational work you do every single day.

So what happens when a platform is built with play therapists in mind?

That’s exactly what we’re diving into in this special podcast episode with Brendan Herjavec, Chief Innovation Officer at PlaySpace.

If you’ve ever found yourself thinking…

→ How do I actually DO play therapy virtually?
 → How do I stay engaging and effective through a screen?
 → Is there a better way than trying to make traditional telehealth platforms “work”?

…this conversation is for you.

Because here’s the truth:
 Virtual play therapy isn’t going away.

And when done well—it can be powerful, connected, and deeply therapeutic.

✨ In this episode, we’ll explore:
 ✓ What PlaySpace is and how it was designed specifically for play therapists
 ✓ How a virtual play therapy platform can support symbolic play, creativity, and engagement
 ✓ The biggest challenges play therapists face when working virtually—and how to overcome them
 ✓ How to maintain connection, attunement, and safety in an online playroom
 ✓ Why using the right tools can change how effective your sessions feel

We’re not just talking about “making do” with virtual therapy.

We’re talking about creating a playroom… just in a different dimension.

🎯 Whether you’re already doing virtual play therapy—or still unsure how it could even work—
 this episode will give you a new lens (and maybe a little hope) for what’s possible.

Because the question isn’t if play therapy can happen online.

It’s how to do it in a way that actually works.

Connect with Brendan Herjave on LinkedIn at https://linkedin.com/in/brendanherjavec

Join my free Facebook Community Play and Expressive Arts Therapy Playground.

Check out my free resources for mental health professionals working with children, adolescents, and families who want to integrate play therapy and expressive arts into their clinical work.

I work with individuals and agencies to develop successful strategies and meet the treatment needs of your child and adolescent clients and their families using play therapy & expressive arts.

Contact me to schedule a free 30-minute video call if you're ready to level up your skills

Transcript

Csthi Spooner: 0:02

Welcome to Next Level Play Therapy. A weekly podcast dedicated to supporting the next generation of child and adolescent therapists to provide exceptional play therapy services. We'll explore all things play therapy. To elevate your work with children and adolescents using the therapeutic powers of play. I'll discuss practical tips and ideas so you can provide a transformative experience for your young clients and make a real difference in their lives. So get ready to take your play therapy skills to the next level and make a lasting impact in the lives of children, adolescents, and families. Hey, welcome to this week's episode of Next Level Play Therapy. I am super excited about my guest this week. So if you are doing virtual play therapy. Um, then you're probably have been kind of frustrated as my guess about, my guess about some of the platforms. The reality is, uh, virtual play therapy isn't something that we kind of conceptualize or we think. Oh, maybe that's gonna happen in the future. It's already here. A lot of the play therapists I consult with are already using play therapy virtually, and what they're finding is most platforms aren't really built for play therapists or art therapists or creative therapists, and so they really weren't designed to engage children. Virtually. They weren't designed for expressive play. They weren't designed for kind of the symbolic relational work that we do with children. In that virtual space, which is why I was excited when I met Brendan and, um, learned about Playspace. I actually learned about Playspace from one of the play therapists in one of my consultation groups, and she had been using Playspace and had good things to say about it. And so actually. I met Brendan. He reached out to me in an email to do a podcast for his episode, and we did that one, and I then I was like, oh, we need to do one for this platform. And so he graciously agreed to do that. So this is, uh, my guest today is Brendan Vac. He's a Chief Innovation Officer over at Playspace. And today we are gonna be talking about. Um, Playspace and how Playspace can fill that need in this virtual play therapy arena. So any of you watching the livestream, please feel free to introduce yourself in the comments. Uh, my name is Kathy Spooner. I'm a licensed clinical social worker and registered play therapist, and I'm the owner of Renewing Hearts Play Therapy training. I do a lot of training and consulting with play therapists, and so if you intro, go ahead and introduce yourself in the comments where you're from, what population you work with, what are your questions maybe that you have for Brendan. About Playspace or what are some of the struggles that you're having using play therapy in, um, on, in that virtual space? So, hey Brendan, welcome to the, uh, welcome to the podcast episode and also the live stream. Do you wanna

Brendan Herjavec: 3:59

here? Yeah, I can introduce myself quickly. Again, you did a phenomenal job and kind tell, like similar to you, tell my little story of how this all came to be, so that'd be great. Yeah. I, Brenda, I'm Brener Vac, um, chief Innovation Officer at Playspace. Been a part of the team for a few years now, but background actually since COVID been in virtual health, uh, working. Primarily initially on the EAP side, bringing, um, digital health to about a million Canadians across Canada, uh, primarily, but now with Playspace worldwide being in Canada, the us, um, Australia, uh, Europe, and some other countries of all, a few of our clients. And really this, the story of how Playspace really came to be is like many others, and this virtual digital health ecosystem was during COVID, uh, Matt, the founder, you know, and talking to his therapist of. 30 years they were having conversation where, you know, when Hugh came first into the session, and as we all know here being play therapists, you know. They weren't having communication. They were going through play Tic-tac toe, monopoly, other games. But when, you know, COVID was forcing everyone to transition over. My wife's a teacher. It was a very hard shift to virtual schooling. And in therapy there wasn't anything out there. They were using Zoom, Google meets Microsoft teams, but it would really didn't have the ability to develop that same rapport. So the idea was, okay, well can we take what we're doing in person and mimic have the same experience online? And for many therapists I work with, this was, you know. I would say not shocking, but very much a big transition. But we're obviously seeing in the other markets that video games, most children think of play today. It is virtual. So there was this move to virtual kind of being the standard of it. But what's really unique now since working on pla uh, play space and kind of helping scale and grow this product, and right now all the innovation we're bringing to it is, is the idea that. There are, what you can be done virtually that can be done in person is the ability to customize or meet your patient where you are. Mm-hmm. So a great example is, um, you know, very simple example, but one of our therapists asks, you know, we're playing tic-tac toe. The child loves dogs. Sub Xs and no, can it be pomeranians and corgis, and you just switch it to that. And now we have a dog based tic-tac toe and as simple as that sounds, that's awesome. It's something that virtual allows you to do. And I think that's what's really unique is that play is different online and there's still obviously benefits in person, but there are some benefits of being able to customize and really do these unique things. And I think now since. Obviously the, the growth of, you know, virtual, I would say being more common practice. It's been really interesting to see how Play Therapy's been able to, uh, be accessible online and being used online, especially through all the ages. Um, before, I know years ago, and, you know. Before Zoom calls when working with therapist, it was through the phone was the only way. And that's very hard with a child. But now you tell a, you know, child to open up Zoom or could be on a computer that isn't a unique, um, a challenge for them yet, building that rapport is still always challenging. So I, I think Playspace really fits in this nice way of helping. The therapist focused on therapy and really us being the engagement layer to make it as seamless as possible, whether it be in person or virtual, to be able to connect with, uh, the child or patient, um, whether it be play therapy or therapy, or even just talk therapy for, uh, an 80-year-old grandmother, just building that engagement and connection. Uh, there's validity in that.

Csthi Spooner: 7:19

Yeah, and I, I think you really identified all of the struggles that a lot of play therapists were having, because you're right. During COVID play therapists, we were used to kids coming into our playroom, and there were very few. People doing virtual play therapy, but overnight they had to get it figured out and they kind of hobbled together ways to do that. And I think for a lot of play therapists, it was very painful

Brendan Herjavec: 7:55

mm-hmm.

Csthi Spooner: 7:56

To get that figured out. And so I, I think that's, now that we've started doing it more, um. I, I think it's more mainstream. Mm-hmm. Now doing virtual play therapy, which I think is good because I live in a state where there's, there's a lot of rural areas. And, uh, the, the benefit of virtual therapy, I mean, I think there's a lot of benefits and one of the benefits is being able, you can reach more people.

Brendan Herjavec: 8:33

Mm-hmm.

Csthi Spooner: 8:33

You can help more kids, you can help more families. Um, if you have, like I I in, in my plate therapy academy, there's a therapist who does a lot of work with. High conflict divorced families, which most play therapists, we try not to get involved in because of all the complexities mm-hmm. Of that. And that's kind of one of her specialties. So in the state there's not a lot. And so she's doing a lot of virtual play therapy with some of these. More specialized, um, areas in the state, so more people have access to that as well. Um, and I, I think, you know, your, your points about how to be able to do that. In the virtual space in a way that engages children is really important because I think my experience has been with the people that I consult with all the time is they kind of hobbled together. Like, um, Google Slides and Google using Google in different kind of ways. But it was, uh, it was just kind of a mishmash of things. So can you talk a little bit about what are some of the, the ways that Play Space works? And we can, we can actually, for those of you listening on the podcast, we're gonna, um, have Brenda share his screen. So if you, if you want to, you can. Pop over to YouTube on my YouTube channel, Kathy Spoon or Renewing Hearts. Uh, and click on the live tab and then you can watch the, the video version of it. If you wanna see Brendan's screen with those of you watching live or watching the replay, you'll be able to see the screen. So let me. Um, oh, you know what? I think you have to add your screen again. I, let me add this. Yeah, I can add

Brendan Herjavec: 10:50

it in. I forgot

Csthi Spooner: 10:50

to tell you that we were practicing before that. There we go. Um, and then I forgot to tell Brenda. Oh yeah. Once you, once you do that, it'll go away again.

Brendan Herjavec: 11:02

Yeah. So I think. What's, what, what's unique. And Kathy, I'll, I'll be jumping through a few different screens, so you may have to accept them as I have. They're all in different tabs.

Csthi Spooner: 11:11

Oh,

Brendan Herjavec: 11:12

okay. Cool. Um, just call it out. So I think what was unique was when we, when we were building Play space, the idea was that, you know. A video platform is one thing, but there's also, as you touched on, challenges when it comes to using a computer, they're great tools, unfortunately, great distractions as well. Um, so a lot of the things we do we're really to streamline the, you know, experience both for the clinician as, um, as, I mean anyone else. You don't wanna learn a new tool or have to develop new workflow. So make it as soon this is possible on the child side, at least keep it as straightforward as possible. To really mimic that in-person experience. And like we said, we never try to move people from in-person to online, but we realize many people are online, whether it be remote or here in Canada, we have a snowstorm. All of a, not today luckily, but all of a sudden it's nice to be able to still do a recession and not have to feel like it's, um, less worthy. So this is really how we've, you know, built our homepage. And as you can see, just some of the callouts, we have our playroom, which are in the show, sand trays, dollhouse whiteboards. Games, games can be tic-tac toe monopoly. All, all the basic ones you realize. And one thing we're we having built, now it's just actually being updated to be a little bit more pretty is our, uh, playroom builder. And this is why I talk to where you can say, build a tic-tac toe with dogs and we'll build that game for you to really build a one. One-to-one customization. We also have a storybook creator, so you can build slides in the app. Um, we use some AI so you can have child friendly stories upload your worksheets to be able to do 'em in, in, in session and everything else. But what I'm sharing right now is kind of the, the exciting part. Um, and that is the, let me stop sharing, kind of move to move to the other screen. Um, is. The playroom itself. So one of the big things, and this is just our, um, oh, this is the demo mode one. It's so

Csthi Spooner: 13:04

cool.

Brendan Herjavec: 13:05

So this is the playroom. Uh, actually me, I, I know I keep jumping around. So let's share this tab instead. Um, so let me, if I go back, so this is the playroom, as you would see. This is gonna look weird for a second. This is me on the left hand side. If you're, lemme see if you're seeing this properly. Yes, you are. Um. And then I'll have also turn it off. And then you have the chat here. So this is just like the Zoom call or Google, whatever you're using here. And on the right hand side is our playroom built like the playroom, and you have customization. This is obviously more youth focused, but you can also change it so there's no playroom. If you're working with a teen or adult who feels that you. You know, they don't, they don't feel that this is their cup of tea and you can still launch everything I'm about to show you, but in a more direct manner. Um,

Csthi Spooner: 13:47

it's nice that you can, sorry, I was interrupting. No, go ahead. It's awesome that you can change the playroom to fit the age level. Like it's really versatile that way. If you're working with a younger child. If you're working with a teenager, right, because that's a thing. Play therapist. Worry about when we're working with teens is we don't want them to feel like they're being treated like babies. Um, and then a, a grownup. Mm-hmm. If like, if you're having a parent session or maybe you also work with adults mm-hmm. You can use this mm-hmm. With adults as well. That's awesome. And.

Brendan Herjavec: 14:23

What you touched on is actually the newer features released is called Toolkit. So everything I'm about to show you, instead of having in a playroom, it would just launch the whiteboard directly so you wouldn't see this room itself. And it's funny, we, we, you know, some therapists will call us the art board or drawing board for children, you say whiteboard and. Living in corporate America, you're like, that's very adult. This is same tool, just different name. Oh my, as we all know, it's, it's how it's, uh, framed. But what's really cool is you, you're just seeing my mouse here because it's just on my screen, but when the child's in here, they have a, the child's mouse is here as well. Um, but as a therapist or the practitioner, you can allow the, you know, patient centered care where they can click around, kind of jump into games or jump into sand tray or wherever they want to go. Or, but as a clinician, you always have control as well to say, okay, we're gonna jump into this room so we allow. You know, the, the patient to have some control, but therapists can always oversee. And what's the benefit of this? Um, which is kind of the creme de lare, which makes Playspace unique, is this is all in one screen. Either you're not switching tabs, you're not telling the child's, okay, now share your screen. This is all automatic and you're, you as a, uh. Practitioner and that the patient are seeing the exact same thing. So you know exactly what the patient is looking at, um, what they're going through and everything else. So I'm just gonna start a San tray, which is Oh,

Csthi Spooner: 15:39

cool. A

Brendan Herjavec: 15:39

classic one. Um, and this is a virtual, uh, virtual sand tray, uh, as a Lowe's not obviously live streaming, so it takes a little bit more time. Mm-hmm. But you can do all the classic things. You can add characters, um, add toys, uh, the classic Zoom in, zoom out, um. People always like different themes. You can change the theme in the background. Um, kind of the one benefit of technology is I can draw in a pool. If you were to do this in person, uh, this would cause the, uh, who's ever cleaning your office. Very upset if you got a pile of water on the ground. Very cool. So it asks some custom ability. Uh, and one thing we also have added in, um, it would just take too much time by now 'cause it typically takes a few, a few minutes, is the 2D to 3D uh, image generator. So if you had eight. Family pet, if you had an item they liked, you could upload it and it would be put into the sand tray. Oh, that's awesome. So a lot of times, yeah, a lot of times you're seeing pets uploaded or as you know, working. I have a 19 month old, she loves her, you know, like specific her bunny. So I would need to get a bunny in here. So if we didn't have the asset you wanted, you could upload it, you could save it yourself. So it really adds that level of, um. Funding complexity. And obviously another benefit, um, which I get a lot, is that you can also save this. So oftentimes if you hear a patient talking about, you know, going through grief, they might set up how they're feeling and then save it and then come back next session and say, okay, what has changed on here? Um, where in person that can sometimes be a little bit more, um, challenging as well, just because having to reset up and kind of take photos. Um. The other thing I'll say is we also have a, uh, like many others now, we have a note taker. So especially when it comes to play-based therapy, allowing you to focus on this session and then, um, allow the note taker to kind of. Collect the notes as well.

Csthi Spooner: 17:23

No way. That is ver So it'll, there's an AI feature that captures notes for you?

Brendan Herjavec: 17:31

Yes. AI features to capture notes, um, just like a note taker embedded into this. Uh, we. Yeah, the other AI features, we, we have, um, again, our, our view on AI is AI is to enable, um, the clinician obviously to be more, more effective,

Csthi Spooner: 17:47

right?

Brendan Herjavec: 17:47

Um, so for example, we have one that's storybook creators, so allowing to create quick, quick story, um, as well as worksheet builder. So oftentimes, um, which is a really simple feature. Simple in theory, hard in practice is that you could upload your forms you're may be using and then digitize them to, so send 'em so you can vir fill them in virtually as well. Cool. So form building. Cool. So our goal is to streamline this as much as possible, make it as straightforward as possible. Um, and then as I'll launch now the dollhouse, um, uh, very much similar to the sand tray, but. Again, really built around the same principles. And one thing we actually got, uh, a few months ago feedback on is different types of homes. So obviously, you know,

Csthi Spooner: 18:29

oh, being able to

Brendan Herjavec: 18:30

multi-home

Csthi Spooner: 18:31

new homes is perfect

Brendan Herjavec: 18:33

apartments.'cause one of the things we had, and this is, I mean, you talk to anyone is, you know, we had this standard home and then the child would say, well, you know, I live in an apartment. This is not me. And obviously you can tell 'em, well just imagine this is it. But then off, but then you said, oh, you know what? We're getting a lot of feedback. Let's add different options and obviously, um, we have a few and we're adding more, but the big thing, obviously mobile home as well, and then a multi home obviously for, as you touched on a bit, um, if there's divorced parents or anything else where they have two things or oftentimes, uh, this is also where like. You know, how would you, you know, your view versus someone else? It just allows two different room, uh, settings and we're seeing a lot of, obviously this is one of our more popular features, um, as well. And it's, uh, it's always fun and one of the things I always do is, um. In, in, we didn't, every time someone joins the company, their first onboarding thing is to make a sandaire dollhouse of how they view themselves or kind of build the room around themselves. So even as adults, it's, we always say, oh, and then three hours later you realize you're spending time building the ecosystem. So like you touched on, it's very much like the case. And then, yeah, whiteboard is, is very much the standard whiteboard. Um, but as we touched on before. With this room, it's completely customized. Oftentimes people provide photos in here so you can make a room for every patient, somehow have a standard like a DHD room, uh, with games or tools specifically for that, but allowing as much custom ability as possible while still making it standardized. So it's not too challenging, um, to do. And yeah, we have multiplayer games, most of the common games, and some single player games as well. So that's really the ecosystem of play space. And a very quick, uh, quick review, and this would be, um, your activity shelf. I have no. No worksheets saved here yet, but you can add activities. Here are some of the books people have written. Um, and if you add it in, then you can use that storybook in session. Oh, that's

Csthi Spooner: 20:25

very cool.

Brendan Herjavec: 20:25

Well, and like any other storybook, um, we've actually improved our, um, photos now would be more consistent, but then you can draw on this, print it out, give it to the patient. And oftentimes obviously we're building this because it's children and minds. It ensures there's. Consistency in wording, messaging. Um, but one thing I'd wanna also say is everything that touches ai. So whether it be building a storybook, whether you're building a game, it is always human in the loop, meaning a therapist would see a first be before bringing into a session. So you build storybooks outta session, make sure, um, and most oftentimes it's because, uh, we've also built it around safety. But oftentimes if you're looking for a specific story to tell. You wanna make sure it tells that story, especially if it's about grief or something, or about losing a puppy, um, which is puppies are a lot of oftentimes the theme you wanna have, you know, have some validity. So yeah, you can regenerate photos. So it's been very unique to kind of see what the most common things are. And obviously as we all know, the sand tray is, is, uh, standard and it's been very popular and probably are still to this day, are most popular too. Even you could build it yourself. It's, uh, nice to see more and more use around that, uh, patient centric care.

Csthi Spooner: 21:37

Yeah. And you know, the nice thing as, as you were showing some of these things, I was thinking, well, I know as play therapist there, there are options to get some of these features virtually on other platforms, but what. What I'm seeing with Playspace is it's, it's all in one space. You don't have to hobble it together, so, and that it saves it.

Brendan Herjavec: 22:02

Mm-hmm.

Csthi Spooner: 22:03

Yeah.

Brendan Herjavec: 22:03

The, the big thing I would, funny, funny enough say, is the, probably the biggest piece of feedback we get, that the positive feedback is the fact that because this is all in one screen. There's no separate tab. And as anyone who's worked with any youth, once you have to, once a child has to click something, they're now lost into the ether of the internet. So it's twofold. One, it forces them to foc like focus. There's no switching tabs. And also the big benefit is because the practitioner and child is seeing the same thing, you as a clinician know exactly what they're looking at. So oftentimes if you see the child, you know, adding a lot of. I mean, I'm not a clinician, but the classic story here is, you know, seeing 'em on lot of, you know, skeletons or gravestones, you're like, okay, well why are you adding that? You, and you see it real time, rather than having two separate views and just like you were in person kind of observing.

Csthi Spooner: 22:51

Right.

Brendan Herjavec: 22:51

Uh, which is really the big thing we're seeing more and more. So it's, it's very, um, it's been very interesting and, and like you touched on a bit, we're seeing also more of an uptick as we get more through teens and, um, early adults.

Csthi Spooner: 23:03

Mm-hmm.

Brendan Herjavec: 23:03

Mostly I'd say the whiteboard probably being the most common thing. Yeah. But, um, even. A lot of the simpler games just through, even on the rapport building side, um, when it comes to that. So we're, it's really interesting to kind of, it's one of those things, like, as you touched on, is that all these tools are age agnostic. It's just really how you position them so that, um, they feel relevant to your, your session in the patient and in front of you.

Csthi Spooner: 23:26

Yeah. And, um, I, I, I actually work with adults, teens, mm-hmm. And kids, I, I have the grownups do the sand tray mm-hmm. And art. So I, I like that. It's a really virtu, um, um, um, I lost the word. I'm still getting over my cold, so my brains are a little looky and my voice is still, at least I don't sound like mini mouse anymore. Um, I had laryngitis really bad. Um, it's versatile. That's the word I was looking for, that you can use it with the, uh, you know, several age like children all the way up to adults because, uh, a lot of places, I mean, some play therapists or. Only work with kids, but a lot of, a lot of play therapists, we work with the full age range. And so, um, being able to have that versatility and, and change it around is needed. And the have that, the art board, I love that you called it the Art board and the San Tray. I think those are really awesome. Benefits to being able to have one platform.'cause here's the thing, like play therapists, we're not known for our tech savvy skills. Um, and so I think agree, agreed with the kids and navigating that and not having to get the parents to come in to help out with the virtual part of it. If it's all in one place and you, you don't have to navigate a bunch of different screens. That I think can be really helpful as well.

Brendan Herjavec: 25:15

And just to show this as well, I'm just share switching tabs here. So this is our game builder. So I said, Hey, build me a Tetras style game and play-based colors. And then you have the game here you can build just like tetras. So using, I'm bad at Tetris, so we're not gonna play. I'll pretend I, I stop playing rather than being bad at the game. But this is just an example where, um. Allowed some CRE creativity and you could, I mean, you could adjust this based on colors or anything else, and it's, I think that's one of the things is as we, as you just touch on, is as a. Therapist. You don't wanna have to learn new technology or a new thing. Right. And one of the big things we're seeing with the rise of AI specifically is the democratization of creation. And I think one thing we even do internally is we have a lot of clinicians we work with on staff or cst. Oh, that's nice. Uh, all, all in school to be, uh, clinicians or our, currently our clinicians. Um, and that's like a play studio. So you just enter whatever you want to build it here. And one of the things we keep, um, seeing more and more is that. Clinicians have the greatest ideas. I held a, uh, competition internally at all our engineers, our business people, me to build the best. Game possible for therapists. And you know, I'm using these tools every day thinking I'm a superstar. And our junior employee came up and built a, um, it was like a mind mapping game that instantly blew everyone's socks off because she had the greatest ideas. She worked with patients, she understood what was required. And because now building is no longer a limitation to some extent, she was able to build what she always had imagined in her head. Um, which was a, uh, uh, I'll share probably after I probably have on my LinkedIn, but it's some of these simple games. I think that's what's we're seeing more and more with a lot of these technologies is if you have the idea, and you obviously clinicians being the expert. Now you're able to create what you had in your mind, um, rather than having to rely on, um, a chain of command or allow other people to kind of develop it. And especially when it's a simple games. I'm not saying you can build, uh, the new, uh, Minecraft or anything in there, but. The classic games with some customization we're seeing more and more just because, um, it allows your unique spin. And even though, uh, we always like to think, you know, people's lived experiences are different. So as simple as it sounds, switching the cars for the trains or anything else, as I just feeling of personalization, we're seeing more and more and it's the power technology and kind of what we're finding is unique. Benefits and obviously their weakness online, but the so unique benefit of online that, um, gets expensive in person if you to have 20 different sets of the same game.

Csthi Spooner: 27:45

Yes, that's very true. Yeah. And I love that you have, um, actual therapists mm-hmm. Or a therapist in training who are thinking that way and they're. Really, so it's kind of play therapist inspired where you have them kind of helping alongside giving the ideas, giving the feedback, here's what we need, and making it really. Um, something that is useful in a practical way.

Brendan Herjavec: 28:19

Mm-hmm.

Csthi Spooner: 28:19

For the, the things that play therapists or, or therapists or creative arts therapists are experiencing.

Brendan Herjavec: 28:28

And I think what's unique about that, and this is just someone who works in that in a healthcare field, but has never been a clinician themselves, is what I think is cool and exciting is oftentimes overly complex because this is my world. I love it. You know, I'm trying to build this highly complex feature in new X, Y, and Z. When they say, I just want, I just wanna simple do to do this. So oftentimes it's, it's kind of, it's an interesting scene. Um, kind of both parties having that discussion work. This is what we want for our, within our clinics, within our sessions. This is what's possible. Now it's mind both to see now you know the possibilities. Where is this middle ground that is valuable? Built in, obviously therapeutic principles, but most importantly, allowing you to live your life easier. And I think that's one thing when it comes to technology that can get intimidating, is that it's like anything else, a rabbit hole. There's so many options. So where you kind of build, that's what's been a unique thing. Even internally, being able to combine the, you know, our engineers who are very technical. Our, uh, leadership who's very visionary and there are clinicians who are in the field and kind of in the practice and kind of find the hodgepodge connection of building relevant tools for people who are actually gonna use them that aren't complex. Because our use case are clinicians who are either working part a clinic or running their own business, right. Enough time to learn new tools. Or it's the youth on the other end who are, you don't wanna, you wanna make it as simple and and age friendly as possible, and then age agnostic as we kind of keep focusing on this.

Csthi Spooner: 29:51

Yeah. Yes. I think that's awesome. Um, if people, like, can you kind of share if people are interested in learning more about Play space, how, what would they, what would they do? How and how can they Yeah. Connect with you and how can they find out more about play space and see if it's a good fit for them?

Brendan Herjavec: 30:19

So, yeah, our website is Playspace Health. Um, also you connect with me on LinkedIn, just Brenna Vac. Um, I believe I'm the only one in the world, so it's a easy name to find. Um, and I quickly,

Csthi Spooner: 30:31

I think we put your, we're gonna put, uh, I think we're gonna put the website in the comments. Mm-hmm. But also we're gonna put your LinkedIn, uh, a, a link to connect with you on LinkedIn. Mm-hmm.

Brendan Herjavec: 30:44

Perfect. And so Playspace Health, or if you connect with me, um, we also have, uh, some coupon calls, an extended trial. So if you wanna connect with me, I can get you, uh, longer access as well, um, or help you with some of our un some new features. So I'm a good person to connect with on that front as well. But at very simply, you can just sign up, um, and, and try the platform. And it's, uh. Exciting to hear kind of people's feedback on how they're using this in session because every time there's a new user, there's a new story and a unique way of viewing, uh, the problem that's always developing, especially when humans speaking to humans.

Csthi Spooner: 31:18

Yeah, and I, I love that there's a, a free trial and definitely I would encourage people to connect with Brendan to get that longer freetrial access to give it a really good try. So that way they can, can try it out and see how it works. And then if they like, I'm, I'm wondering about the, like if people have questions or they run into problems on the platform, what's the, um, support that's available to them?

Brendan Herjavec: 31:53

Yeah, so actually we have a little, uh. Like many of our websites, you can ask questions here and we have obviously employees here who view this, uh, in real time in the class of nine to five. But we also have some, uh, after hours as well and ask questions there. Or even, I mean, we're a small team. Um, people are sitting behind me, right behind this nice whiteboard wall, classic office furniture here. Um, so even if you reach out to me with questions or, uh, features you'd want, even games you wanna help being built, um. I can either help you myself or connect you with the team here.'cause we're a pretty tight-knit team, all kind of building towards the same, uh, same goals. So everyone, anyone on the team should help. And I'm, uh, my goal is to bring innovation. So any innovative ideas, I'm the person to speak to.

Csthi Spooner: 32:39

Well, that's awesome. And like I, I mentioned at the beginning I found out about Brendan. Through one of the, excuse me, the therapists in my Plate Therapy Academy program, and she was using Playspace because in, we were having this conversation and she was talking about Playspace and virtually, and all of the plate therapists were like, oh, oh, oh, can you tell me like, what was the name of that place? And so she shared a little bit about it and. Talked about, like she was finding it to be really useful and very helpful. And so, um, that's why I thought, well, this would, I think a lot of people in the play therapy community and, and as well as I know somebody, some of the people watching and listening. Also, um, art therapists and creative arts therapists and in different expressive, um, expressive arts fields. And it, it seems to me like this platform kind of meets a lot of those. Needs as well. So thank you so much for joining us today, and if for those of you who may still have questions or you want that longer free trial, feel free to reach out to Brendan. We're gonna put the links in the comments, I think in the description. I also put a link to your. Yeah, I did. I put a link in the description to your LinkedIn profile.

Brendan Herjavec: 34:17

Perfect. Yeah, it was great. Great being on. I always love talking about obviously this space about play space and even just plays fun to talk about as well. So, great talking on Kathy and hopefully, uh, I speak to more of your listeners soon to kind of see what they're working on and see, uh, if we can help out in any way.

Csthi Spooner: 34:32

Yeah, that's awesome. Alright, well that is it for today and I will see if you guys next week. Thank you for joining me on this episode of Next Level Play Therapy. I hope you found the discussion valuable and gain new insights and ideas to support your work helping children, adolescents, and families heal. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe to the podcast and leave a review. Your feedback helps to improve and reach more people who can benefit from this information. Remember, play Therapy is a powerful tool for healing and growth. Whether you're a new play therapist or experienced, I encourage you to continue your learning journey to unlock the potential of play in your own work in relationships. If you have any questions or topics, suggestions for future episodes, I'd love to hear from you. Connect with me on social media and visit my website at Renewing Hearts Play Therapy Training. To stay updated on upcoming episodes, trainings, and resources. Thank you once again for listening to Next Level Play Therapy. Until next time, keep playing, learning and growing.