Child Life Specialist Essay

Prior to the 1980s, children were prepared for surgeries and other medical procedures by their doctors and nurses. Beginning in the early 1990s, Child Life Specialty took over the role of preparing children and families for procedures. Child life specialists work in medical settings serving as emotional support and helping to develop family coping strategies (Nabors, Bartz, Kichler, Sievers, Elkins, & Pangallo 2013). Most child life programs exist in hospitals, however, there are many other environments where specialists work, ranging from dentist offices, schools, and even funeral homes (Fitzpatrick 2016). Their job varies among different settings but typically they are there to prepare children for procedures and explain the overall medical

The Children’s Hospital of Central California (CHCC) is one of the nation’s largest pediatric hospitals; CCHC not only provides great quality healthcare for pediatrics but also caters and cares for children from pre-birth all the way until their young adulthood stage of life. CHCC is a nonprofit healthcare network that specializes in medical and surgical services to help care for common to rare health conditions. Children’s Hospital provides healthcare services in over forty different types medical services. Services can include from Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Emergency Room (ER) to Cardiology. The department that will be observed and discussed is the social services department

Play is the universal language of children and allows children to express their emotions and individual responses to stressful situations. Play allows children to recreate crucial events that they have experienced and provides the child with a sense of control over the outcome of their play. The presence of a non-directive adult observer during play provides a companion for the child to recall difficult experiences and memories. Medical play is a way for children to work through the process of stressful medical experiences, where children cope with stressful healthcare experiences and can achieve mastery by creating positive outcomes in play. It is vital to understand coping strategies of children, since these approaches may affect their future reactions to healthcare situations. Children who have a sibling with a chronic illness can experience vicarious medical distress and their lives can be impacted by their siblings’ chronic illness. The researchers’ aim of this study was to observe and compare the reactions to medical trauma through play of children with medical illnesses, siblings of children with medical illness, and children who were healthy and did not have family members who were ill.

My first goal during the child life internship is to successfully gain a working knowledge of the philosophy and principles of patient-and family-centered care. Although I have some valuable experiences working with children and families, I believe that the setting, environment, and resources at Advocate Children’s Hospital will help me to further develop skills and knowledge in working with families in times of crisis and high stress. I want to gain a solid understanding of family dynamics, stress reduction and developmental, educational, and therapeutic play techniques. My second goal is to evaluate my own work under the guidance of experienced professionals, and be measured by professional standards. As a graduate student in child life, I have set forth to gain knowledge of developmental and educational theories, role-play various preparations with classmates, and volunteer for child life events; thus the next step is to gain clinical preparation and put what I have learned in class to practice. Hence, I am eager to invest in opportunities to build on coursework and apply theory under the guidance of experienced individuals to acquire skills in the profession. My third goal, but not my last goal, is to strengthen my ability to interact and communicate with other members of the health care team to integrate child life into the care plan. Child life is not only a service, but a team commitment to excellent care, therefore, it is important

Becoming a Child life specialist and majoring in this profession has its advantages and disadvantages to it. Disadvantages to this career are all the stress that one might have while working with children and also a lot of the people that work In this career have to have a lot of patience with kids because if in situation where a child might have to go into surgery the child might act bad towards certain news like that and might start having tantrums and you would have to calm them down and making an effort to work with them, but it’s not all about the kids but also the parents for example again in the same situation a child is going into surgery and one of the parents does not agree with that happening and they would start trying to argue with you or the nurses and being as a child life specialist it is

Clinical examples The clinical examples which I present refer to therapeutic situations in which the patient and/or the therapist are communicating by means of the language of play, which is the language of illusory reality. Sometimes, it is the patient who communicates by means of this language and the therapist who is able to play has to adhere to this mode of communication. The first example, from Winnicott’s treatment of “The Piggle” demonstrated the playing with ideas and interpretations, which requires a readiness to be in a state of “not knowing” and a capacity for flexibility. The next two examples demonstrate the therapist’s capacity to play in such clinical situations, manifested in his readiness to join the patient into his “area of play”.

This article is, as the title suggests, about 15 play therapy techniques that can be used by professionals that the authors Hall, Kaduson, and Schaefer agree are effective. Each activity has a therapeutic rationale section, a description (including materials that may be needed), given some guidelines, and somewhat of a script for the respective therapist using that technique in the application section. At the beginning of that article, the authors have added a little history, definition, as well as a disclaimer that they “ do not intend this article to be viewed as a “cookbook” approach to play therapy….it is geared to

Children use drama as therapy spontaneously, with no outside direction or pre-imposed structure. Dramatic play is the child's method of: symbolically expressing and resolving internal conflict; assimilating reality; releasing pent-up emotions; learning to control potentially destructive impulses through fantasy; expressing unaccepted parts of the self; exploring problems

This article is recent, published within a peer-reviewed journal. The author-conducted research is empirical, qualitative and phenomenologically designed, uniquely enabling children to describe their play therapy experiences and identify factors that influence these experiences.

Play therapy was first established by Carl Rogers in 1942. According to the Association for Play Therapy Board (1997) Play therapy is the systematic use of a theoretical model to establish an interpersonal process wherein trained play therapist use the therapeutic powers of play to help clients prevent or resolve psychological difficulties and achieve optimal growth and development (1997). The goal for play therapy is to be able to help provide a way for the children to express their feelings and experiences. There are two types of Play therapy that consist of Directive, and Non-directive. Non-directive play Therapy acknowledges and allows the child to direct the play. This technique has 5 different

Play not only helps a therapist understand a child’s word and how they perceive it, but it can also be self-healing for the child to

Hospitalization can be difficult for children of all ages. Familiarization play gives “children of all age[’s] opportunities to freely explore, manipulate, and play with health-related object in a nonthreatening, pleasurable context” (ACCH, n.d., p. 71). Thus, familiarization play helps children become more familiar with the hospital surroundings and with their healthcare experiences. Children have a chance to play with medical items such as stethoscopes, band-aids, doctor's hats, gloves, masks. This hands-on experience, along with the information provided to the child will helps the child learns what they will see, and feel in the medical setting. It also gives a child an opportunity to express any questions or fears they may have before

Play therapy is a type of psychotherapy that uses play to aid in the therapeutic process. It is most commonly used with children between the ages of four to eleven since they are too young to communicate well through language and this is the period when children most likely use imaginary play although it can be adapted to suit any age. Play therapy allows children to problem solve, learn and express their emotions. It also gives children the chance to explore their environment in a safe and non-threatening way. Play therapy assists children to focus on the activities and not on the stress of the outcome. Dolls, sandboxes, drawings and games are

Too frequently play therapy becomes overlooked and rejected due to the joyous word play. Despite the beliefs, play therapy can inhibit communication barriers, and provide a safe environment for the child to explore critical elements in their life. The book Dibs in Search of Self by Virginia M. Axline provides an excellent example of how effective play therapy can be. Time and time again I found myself becoming moved and flabbergasted by the way play therapy worked for Dibs. Furthermore, the way play therapy assembled a healthy and positive relationship with his family in general.

Along with the many types of play, there are also a few functions of play. One of the functions of play is the ability to master anxieties and conflicts. Playing can relieve tension because of the relaxed setting and atmosphere. This also helps with coping with problems. Building with blocks and knocking them down is a great example of how play can relieve tension. This is fun and it lets the child show emotion. Another function of play is that it can work off excess energy. This is especially useful and important with children with ADHD. They have symptoms of hyperactivity and inability to concentrate, so play can help improve these issues by getting energy out and relieving any anxieties or tensions. Any kind of play can help children work off frustration and cope with their feelings. This is a form of play therapy. It is a simple way of kicking back and relaxing; doing something you enjoy. This can mean so many things such as coloring or playing with play doh.