Getting in touch with Child Life to feel, then heal

Kid quotes overheard from the Child Life office:

“I really like your shirt. It reminds me of autism!”

“Where does your insulin go?” “In my arms, legs and meat!”

A 6-year-old darts into the Child Life office, bear-hugs a volunteer’s leg, and exclaims that school was boring, she’s thirsty and she needs to go potty.

A split-second later she’s disappeared back into Piper’s Playhouse to prick and test a stuffed whale’s blood sugar, congratulating its composure with a sticker.

There’s no apology from a sheepish mom in tow, because outbursts are OK — child life specialists offer a safe space to share, ask questions and cry.

Through intentional play and personal connection, child life specialists offer a therapeutic “third place” for families to comfortably explore the range of emotion that follows a diagnosis.

That level of understanding from a non-family member can be monumental for young kids still figuring out how to express themselves.

Familiar faces to look forward to during treatment and positive memories to look back on can make the difference between feeling alone in a diagnosis and feeling like part of a team.

“Child Life is the lens through which all pediatric health care experiences can turn from a frightening experience into an opportunity for healing and growth,” says Julie Hertzog, supervisor of Child Life Services at MultiCare Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital. “We bring play, joy and healing to an otherwise overwhelming environment, not only for our patients and their families but for Mary Bridge Children’s team members as well.”

As children learn and process information through play, a child life specialist’s daily itinerary revolves around each patient’s unique interests, in respect to their developmental and cognitive needs.

Last year, Child Life provided support to 10,207 patients and families. From facilitating Squishmallow MRIs to simply recharging with Olaf the facility dog post-infusion, play presents an opportunity for developmentally appropriate diagnosis education and a perspective shift.

For Shawn, 6, Child Life diverted his focus away from recurring emergency department visits and hospital admissions after his diagnoses of eosinophilic esophagitis, urinary reflux, oropharyngeal dysphagia and, recently, autism spectrum disorder. As his day-to-day became more difficult, his friends in Child Life learned Shawn would rather focus on aliens and all things outer space.

“Child life specialists have been some of our favorite people during the whole process,” says Shawn’s mom Rachel. “It’s so nice to have that constant when he goes in for an appointment. He knows he has a friend there. That’s what he calls them — his friends.

“Shawn’s diagnosis at such a young age means his care with medical teams will be an ongoing thing,” she continues. “But with the help of doctors at Mary Bridge, Shawn has been able to participate in many things like a ‘normal’ kid.”

The benefit of redefining ‘normal’ through light medical education extends beyond Mary Bridge Children’s to local schools, where last year 120 children learned how to be there for a peer with cancer who was returning to school.

Hands-on classroom visits from child life specialists and social workers demystify stages of illness, treatment and recovery for a patient’s peers. Feeling better understood invokes a sense of normalcy that encourages kids and teens to find their voice and better advocate for themselves in a medical setting and beyond.

Join us in celebrating Child Life Month

We invite you to join us in honoring the tireless dedication of the Child Life team at Mary Bridge Children’s. The service they provide has always been free to families and 100 percent supported by community donations, although there are other ways to contribute. If you’d like to support this critical program, you can purchase items on Child Life’s Amazon wish list or collaborate with the team to host a special guest visit, and you’ll help us continue bringing smiles to families facing a difficult time.