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StoryBridge

For counsellors and caregivers

Some children cannot tell you what happened.Most can tell you what the fox does next.

StoryBridge turns what you describe into a fictional story that explores the same feelings at a safe distance. The child decides what the character does, who it trusts, whether it speaks. You get open questions after every choice.

Start a storyRead the guide first

Not therapy. Not a diagnosis. Not a forensic interview. It does not replace a qualified professional.

Scene 4 of 9The Lantern Wood

What Pim does

Pim stands in the middle of the mossy path with the feeling, and the wood waits.

Nobody is telling Pim what to do. This part is up to Pim.

So what does Pim do?

For the adult, after the choice

Pick a choice above and the questions appear here. They ask about the character, never about the child.

Before anything else

What StoryBridge is not

Not therapy

StoryBridge does not treat anything. A counsellor may use it inside a session; on its own it is a story with choices in it.

Not a diagnosis

Nothing a child picks is scored, measured or interpreted. There is no result at the end, because there is nothing being tested.

Not an interview

This is not a forensic tool and must never be used to gather evidence. It never asks a child what happened to them.

Not a substitute

It does not replace a qualified professional. If a child needs help, this does not count as having provided it.

If you are worried about a child’s immediate safety, or something is disclosed while you use this, read the safety guidance.

A session, in order

How it goes

  1. You describe what has been happening

    In your own words, with no names, no dates and no detail you would not want written down. It stays in this browser and is used only to suggest which themes fit.

  2. The child picks the world and the character

    A wood, a bay, a snow hollow or a clifftop, and a small animal to be. They can name the character whatever they like. This is usually the first decision they get to make.

  3. The story runs, and the child steers it

    Nine scenes. Every one ends with a real choice: speak, stay quiet, hide, walk off, stay still, let someone close, keep hold of it. The story changes to match.

  4. It settles before it ends

    The last scene always comes back to something calm and ordinary. Nothing is resolved, because nothing was being solved. The child can stop before this and still get it.

Control

The child holds the exits

In a trauma-informed tool the way out is never buried in a menu. All four controls sit in the same place on every scene, from the first one, and the child is shown where they are before the story starts.

Pause
A full-screen quiet moment. The story waits. Nothing is lost.
Skip
Move past a question without answering it. No choice is required.
Change the story
Swap the world, rename the character, or go back and pick differently.
Finish gently
Jump to the settling scene from anywhere. Sessions never end mid-feeling.

The adult’s side of the screen

Questions that do not lead

After every choice you get three or four open questions and one reminder. They were written to a short set of rules, and the panel hides with one tap when a child looks over.

How to hold the session
  • Questions ask about the character, never about the child.
  • No question has a preferred answer buried in it.
  • Never ask why. Ask what, or where, or what happened next.
  • A shrug is an answer. Silence is often the work.
  • No praise for a choice, because praise turns the story into a test.
  • If the child changes the story, follow. The change is the information.

Four worlds, twelve themes

Somewhere for the metaphor to live

The Lantern Wood

A wood where small lanterns hang in the trees, and someone keeps them lit.

The Quiet Bay

A shallow bay with warm rock pools, and a heron who stands very still.

The Snow Hollow

A valley after snow, where everything is quiet and a fire is kept going.

The High Nest

Cliffs above the sea, where the wind is loud and the nests are safe.

Worry that will not settleBig anger that arrives fastMissing someone who is not hereHome does not feel safe or steadyCarrying something they were told to keepBelieving it was their faultFrightened of someone biggerA big change they did not chooseSomeone has died or gone for goodTold someone once, and it went badlySomething happened that they did not chooseFlat, far away, feeling nothing

Privacy

What you type about a child never leaves the device you type it on

There is no account, no database and no upload. The description, the choices and the story are held in the browser tab and are gone when it closes. We cannot read any of it, because it never arrives here.

What we keep

Start when you are ready

Setting up takes about two minutes. You can do it before the child is in the room, and change any of it later.

Start a story