¶ … Rachel Faybyshev Foundations of Mental Health Counseling

Dr. Mary Owens

Interviewee -- April Slowenski BS, MEd, CCLS, CPMT

Please tell me your official job title and the length of time that you have held the Child Life Specialist degree.

I am a Certified Child Life Specialist and Certified Pediatric Massage Therapist. In February, it will be 7 years since I started working in this field.

What inspired your interest in the field of Child Life Specialist?

I've always wanted to work with children and at first I wanted to be a teacher. I was not aware of all the other professions that deal with children. I found out about child life specialists program by accident. While in undergrad, I majored in Education and took a psychology course. One day when I was going to class, there was a sign for a child life specialist's seminar right outside the classroom. Unfortunately, the seminar got cancelled because the school didn't offer a child life specialist program. When I got home that day, I researched in depth and decided this was what I meant to do. I then transferred schools and pursued this career.

a) How and/or why did you choose it over the other health practitioner fields?

This field is a little bit of everything, nurse, teacher, counselor, play therapist all in one. You get to be the strength for the family and help the children feel safe. While other professionals are doing the procedures, I get to help them get over their fears.

b) What have been the benefits to choosing this field and what have been the shortcomings?

The benefit of this field is that it is a field that is still growing, so it's exciting to be a part of something new. I am eager to help be a part of the growing research involved. The shortcoming is that since it is a new field, there are a lot of misconceptions and misunderstandings about what we actually do.

3. Can you tell me about a typical day on the job?

There is no such thing; it all depends on the day. I come in at 7am and get a list of patients that are there that day. I get reports and background information of the patients from the nurses, PCA's, or whoever is available. I then structure the day based on the reports given. In some cases, I might go to surgery with patients to do diversion therapy or I might meet with parents and let them know how their child is progressing. There are days where I will do coping exercises with chronic patients, for example, teach them breathing exercises to cope with their anxiety. I also do final memory projects with dying kids and also help kids who have parents or grandparents that are dying. We collect pictures and make collages. I also oversee all donations, Looney Tunes, and arrange Santa Clause as well as supervise events.

4. What is your favorite part of your job?

Seeing a child who comes in fearful and then helping him/her to overcome it. Seeing the progress and know that you are the one helping them is extremely rewarding.

5. What is your least favorite part of your job?

Bereavement, when a child dies, as well as the lack of understanding from other staff personnel.

6. What surprised you the most when you started working in this field?

Seeing resiliency from the kids and parents and seeing the patients pull through. When a child is told he's going to be a vegetable, but then walks out of the hospital. There was one case where a teenager was hit by a car and was told he was going to be a vegetable for...

The boy loved music, so I advocated on doing music therapy with him. After the first session there was light and finally there was a sign that the boy was still there. Months later the boy walked out the hospital on his own two feet.
7. What is the typical salary range for someone in this line of work?

It depends on what part of the country you live in. There are also 3 tiers of child life specialists, so it also depends on your certification. The salary ranges between $25,000 -- 50,000.

8. What advice would you give to someone entering the field now?

I would tell them to never give up. It is hard to get a job and internship because it's a new field, but keep going and stay dedicated.

9. How would you suggest a newcomer to the field secure mentorship?

I would tell them not to be afraid of reapplying, a lot of applicants and not many sites. Additionally, get all the experience you can, keep volunteering past your 100 hours; do 200, 300, 700 hours, whatever it takes. And always do a practicum.

10. How do you see the field of developing?

I believe it is moving in the right direction. The governing body, Child Life Council, is changing things starting 2019.

a) What are your thoughts about the developments?

The council is changing the degree requirements. You will need to have a Masters in child life to be able to be certified. Right now, you only need to have a bachelor in child life or related fields such as psychology, social work etc. The minimum hours for internship right now is 480, but increasing to 600 hrs.

b) Will that benefit or hurt the field?

Overall, I believe that it will be beneficial, but also thinks that a lot of people will give up if they don't secure a placement before 2019. They won't want to continue their education and will just move on to something else that just requires a bachelor. I believe there are pros and cons.

11. What are employers typically looking for when hiring people in this line of work?

Some want those who are fresh in the field so they can mold them and some want people with 1-2-year experience and right level of training. They need to be able to work well within a team and be able to work with difficult people as well be able to advocate for patients.

12. How do other health and human services personnel perceive the role of the child life specialists?

Surprisingly, the adult units get it more than pediatric units, which is shocking. They are a lot of perceptions that "we're just the gift/prize ladies" or "we're here just to play."

13. What are your thoughts regarding child life specialist's possibly gaining diagnosis privileges?

I believe that with a little more training we should be qualified to diagnose autism and think it should be in their role to give developmental diagnosis because they are trained on child development. Right now, we just contribute and talk to physicians about our thoughts on diagnoses, but I don't think it's going to happen. The Child Life Council is focused on other things. I do believe that we are qualified to diagnose GED, PTSD etc. as well, especially with chronic children.

14. My background and experience is (briefly note your major qualifications). How do you think they compare with employers' expectations…