What is Child Life?
Over the years, I’ve come to realize there are many misconceptions around Child Life due to the unfamiliarity with the profession. In this brief blog, I’m here to clear some things up!
What Child Life Is:
Child Life is the practice of helping children and teens develop effective coping skills to navigate challenging life events such an injury, illness, or death of a loved one.
Child Life Specialists are certified and trained professionals that have a strong child development knowledge base. Every clinician has at least a college degree while many of us have a masters degree in child development or a similar field.
Specialists educate, prepare, and advocate for patients within the hospital setting, helping to reduce anxiety and fear. We also provide therapeutic play opportunities to promote a sense of normalcy within the hospital setting.
Child Life professionals are most focused on the psychosocial piece of a child’s experience. We put a child’s emotional health and well-being first.
The skills of a Child Life Specialist can be transferred and used in other valuable settings where children can experience difficult transitions and life changes. You may find us working in schools, hospice programs, private practice, court settings, dentist offices, and more.
What Child Life Is Not:
We are not just individuals who play with children. We use play as a teaching modality and as an emotional outlet for children to “play out their experiences” when they are feeling overwhelmed, angry, scared, or helpless.
We do not provide therapy. Although there are therapeutic elements to our interventions, we are not licensed therapists or psychologists who provide cognitive therapy, psychoanalysis, etc.
We are not medical experts but rather, members of your healthcare team. I very much enjoy the clinical piece of my job and am well versed on how various illnesses impact the human body. However, everything I share is based on my practical experience and knowledge that I have gained from medical experts in the field.
Child Life is not a service only available or provided to young children. Child Life Specialists serve all ages from infants to young adults. Interventions are based on patient need and development. When we are providing care, we are focused on the entire family unit, providing support and education to siblings, caregivers, grandparents, etc.