The British and Irish Sandplay Society was established in the late 1980s by Joel Ryce-Menuhin.
Joel studied psychology in Switzerland with the founder of Sandplay Therapy, Dora Kalff, and he became a highly regarded Jungian Analyst with IGAP.
He wrote and edited numerous books and articles on psychology including the seminal text – Jungian Sandplay: The Wonderful Therapy.
BISS is the national British and Irish member of the International Society for Sandplay Therapy (ISST), a umbrella, non-profit making organisation which was inaugurated in 1985 by its founder Dora Kalff.
The organisation is based in Zurich, Switzerland and is affiliated with IAAP (International Association for Analytical Psychology). Thirteen founding members, including Joel Ryce-Menuhin, were involved in the inauguration of ISST. A majority of members were Jungian analysts and came mainly from the US, Germany, Italy and Japan.
The International Society for Sandplay Therapy is an umbrella body operating through eleven Member Societies and independent members spread in many countries throughout the world. It aims to provide a meeting ground for an exchange of knowledge and experience through training programmes and by research on Jungian/Kalffian Sandplay therapy. Consistent with this aim BISS runs a two-year professional training programme in Jungian Sandplay on a bi-annual basis in London, leading to simultaneous membership of both the British and Irish Sandplay Society and the International Society for Sandplay Therapy. Both societies offer their members access to an international network of experienced therapists engaged in non-verbal and symbolic therapeutic practice and an arena for presentations, research, exchange and discussion in a bi-annual Congress hosted by different Member Societies.