Child Life Specialists

Child Life Specialists are trained in child development with an additional focus on psychosocial support for kids. They have specialized skills in a child’s social and emotional development and facilitate kids coping with stressful experiences. While child life is expanding, it is most commonly practiced in hospital settings to help normalize the hospital environment, educate children on their reason for hospitalization, and facilitate positive coping in the hospital environment. The goal of community-based child life practices are to continue these practices. Child life specialists can help a child understand and cope with challenging life events through education, preparation, and therapeutic play opportunities. Please visit childlife.org for more information about child life services.