Child Development Episodes

"What we can do as parents and professionals is look past the behavior." Helping Hands: Resources for Parents Supporting Siblings in Healthcare Situations I remember the first time I saw the impact of a sibling's illness on a...

So happy to share this "child life insight" with parents and professionals, but first let's answer the question: What are child life specialists? Child life specialists are trained professionals who provide emotional support ...

On today's episode of the podcast, Katie interviews Rylee Neal who decided to become a Child Life Specialist from her past experiences being hospitalized with a heart condition called tetralogy of fallot. An experience with ...

Katie along with co-host Mijha from Jambo books interview Dr. Kate Lund, TedEx speaker, clinical psychologist and hydrocephalus warrior. She brings an incredibly important perspective as provider, patient and parent. Dr. Lund...

[Child Life 101] How to Support Kids in Pain As a child life specialist, I know that pain can significantly impact children. It can affect them physically, emotionally, socially, and cognitively. Research has shown that uncon...

Katie and Cortney Given, host of the Mindset for Medical Moms Podcast, interview Leah Ward about her son Jackson and his journey with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS.) Leah shares the ups and downs of being a heart mom....

On today's episode, Katie meets with Kristen McNeely, a Licensed family therapist who is in expert on Anxiety in Children. Kristen shares the importance of how we respond to anxiety as parents and caregivers, helping children...

podcast, Katie interviews Crystal Polk, a Social Worker and Licensed Therapist speaks about the dual role parents of medically complex children hold as caregiver and parent. Crystal specializes in working with families who ha...

On this week's episode of the podcast, Katie interviews Michele Benyo, a Certified Grief Specialist who helps families navigate the loss of a child with a focus on sibling relationships. Michele experienced the loss of her 6 ...

On this episode of the podcast, Lenora from BetterSpeech shares about virtual speech language pathology services and how they can be beneficial for not just the child but for the family. Lenora explains how making a connecti...

Katy shares about her daughter Charlotte and how her surgeries that left scars inspired her to write a book about seeing scars in a positive way. Finding out about her daughter's diagnosis at 32 weeks on a Thursday morning an...

On today's episode of the podcast we will hear from Kirsten Black, a Certified Child Life Specialist, who had the opportunity to visit children's hospitals in Sweden. Kirsten shares her perspective on the major differences in...

"I really feel like I'm paying forward with everything that I lived and everything I've experienced as a professional. My program is my heart in a basket for them."- Dr. Michelle Hu, Audiologist Dr. Michelle Hu shares how she...

"Never listen when they tell you your child will not, encourage them to do the best they can do"- Belinda Hammond, CCLS Belinda shares her son's journey with low tone, epilepsy and autism and how her professional and personal...

In this episode, we will hear from Laura about navigating hospital life and finding the balance between caring for her family and taking care of herself. She focuses on the importance of self care and how it has made her be t...

On today's episode of the podcast, we will hear from Ryan Judd, Music Therapist and creator of Cool Koala. In this episode, Ryan places an emphasis on helping our children develop gratitude, compassion and learning how to cop...

Today we have a guest co-host AND a guest! Our guest co-host is Sehreen Noorali, and you may remember her from Episode 112 of the podcast. Her younger daughter has some medical needs and has been through neurosurgery. Like Se...

Today I am introducing you to Dr. Jin Lee, a licensed clinical psychologist with experience working in hospitals. She now has her own private practice, and she specializes with teens who have functional neurological or post-c...

Here we are in the last week of February, which is heart month, and I am so honored to bring you Melissa's story. We have discussed other heart defects before, such as tetralogy of fallot and hypoplastic left heart syndrome. ...

Julie May has been a child life specialist for almost 20 years. She is here today to talk with us about how to talk to and support kids who have an adult in their lives who has an illness. Julie talks about what Wonders and ...

Today's guest, Elizabeth, had never heard of PANDAS (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infection) when her son was diagnosed with it. PANDAS is a tough diagnosis, because some docto...

Today's 12 minute talk became a 20+ minute talk, and Cara Smith and I discussed how parents can connect with their children after a disaster. Cara is an amazing pioneer in the child life field, and she has valuable tips both ...

Today's guest is Maureen, and she found out at her 20 week ultrasound that her daughter had clubfoot. She shares what families have to endure when confronted with a child with clubfoot. You'll hear about B and B (boots and ba...

For today's 12 minute talk, I'm speaking with Kat Harrison. At the end of 2021, I shared Kat's episode (episode 99) in which she talked about what it was like being a teenager with chronic illness. During that episode, we to...