Therapeutic metaphorical tale
in virtual reality

Since its inception, HypnoVR has been supporting paediatric wards with its medical hypnosis solution using virtual reality to reduce patients’ pain and anxiety. This immersive experience is based on a virtual world, a musical atmosphere and hypnotic verbal support adapted to the treatment and the patient’s choice. HypnoVR already offers special content for children, with hypnotic speeches that include tutoring and simpler words, for example.

To offer an even more immersive and engaging experience for young children in paediatrics, HypnoVR has developed a new immersive experience using characters that are well known to children. Children can now experience a therapeutic adventure for pain and anxiety management in the environment of the cartoon “The Jungle Bunch”.

This innovative collaboration combines the skills of an expert in animation and storytelling for children, the studio TAT productions, and doctors specialising in the treatment of pain and anxiety and practising medical hypnosis, HypnoVR. This new experiment has been developed with one common goal in mind: to help young patients better cope with pain and anxiety during medical procedures.

Metaphorical storytelling is a narrative technique that helps children understand and overcome the challenges associated with their illness or medical treatment by establishing a connection with the characters in the story. This fun and exciting approach helps children to feel understood and supported throughout their care process.

The construction of the metaphorical tale follows a precise narrative architecture, respecting several stages, such as the personification of unconscious processes, the presentation of a metaphorical problem, references to previous experiences of success, the resolution of the problem and a celebration of the success.

The aim is to create a shared experience between the child, the carer and the story, where the child can identify with the characters and events described. This identification helps the child to feel less isolated and more understood, with the aim of facilitating his or her healing process and adherence to treatment. However, the metaphor must be indirect enough not to frighten or upset the child, but precise enough for him to make a personal connection with his illness. Ultimately, a good therapeutic metaphor enables children to mobilise their abilities and resources in a non-threatening and generalised way, which helps them to cope better with their illness or treatment.

The 6 stages of metaphorical storytelling :

To create a highly appealing experience for children, with an adventure and characters that are both friendly and familiar, we approached recognised specialists in animation and storytelling for children: the TAT Productions studiothe company behind the famous ‘Jungle Bunch’ licence. The common goal of helping children to manage pain and anxiety during medical procedures very quickly became the driving force behind the development of metaphorical storytelling.


The Jungle Bunch are well known to children, with 3 seasons and over 150 episodes already, a big screen film that has attracted over 2,700,000 spectators worldwide and a second film due for release in August 2023. The rich, exciting and familiar world is ideal for arousing children’s curiosity and serving as the basis for an adventure story.

We then applied the therapeutic metaphorical storytelling model, also using hypnosis techniques, but in a more dynamic and engaging format to maximise the child’s focus of attention.

Children are plunged into the heart of a thrilling adventure in which they must overcome various challenges to find a magic stone hidden in the heart of the jungle with the emblematic characters of the “Jungle Bunch” universe, Maurice, a tiger penguin accompanied by Junior, his adopted son, a goldfish in his bowl. By succeeding in these challenges, the young patients discover their own inner strength, courage and determination, qualities that are essential for managing pain and anxiety during medical treatment.

Thanks to this immersive, personalised experience, children are now better prepared to face the challenges of their illness and treatment, while living an unforgettable adventure alongside their favourite heroes.

An experience fully available in the HypnoVR solution