Visit Child Life Therapy and CoHD: Kate Strickland - HeartKids

Hospitals and medical settings are wonderful places for both adults and children to receive care. However, they can also be incredibly...

When you envisage the birth of your child and watching them grow, you never picture them in a hospital or medical setting. You don’t...

Imagine you are taken to into an unfamiliar environment. You don’t know any of the people around you and then they ask you to do...

As a Child Life Therapist, much of my role has been in planning for and supporting medical procedures. Medical procedures can include any...

As a Child Life Therapist, I have worked with countless children and families throughout their medical experiences. I have stood by while...

What is empowerment? Medical encounters can be a very challenging experience for some children. They often take place in unfamiliar...

The National Child Traumatic Stress Network describes medical trauma as “a set of psychological and physiological responses of children...

What is a Child Life Therapist? A Child Life Therapist is a healthcare professional specialising in child development with a background...

As adults, we are likely to have built up a range of coping mechanisms to help us in stressful situations. Whether this has been a...

Much research has been done into the importance of developing a therapeutic relationship when working with any client. In fact, a strong...

What is Choice and Control? Supporting children to make choices and have some control in making decisions is a big part of helping them...

As Child Life Therapists, we spend a lot of time normalising medical environments and experiences for children. We understand and utilise...

Having a child is an amazingly rewarding and life enriching experience. We get to receive unconditional love and watch as our little...

Social stories can be used as an incredibly powerful tool to help children understand their experiences and to provide a developmentally...

Having a blood test can be a very challenging experience for your child. It may be their first time round or they may have had previous...

A hospital admission or cardiac surgery can be a scary time for both your child and the whole family. Getting home is always an important...

Going through health care encounters and medical experiences can be very overwhelming and challenging for all children. They are often...

Why play? Play is how children explore, interact and come to understand the world around them. Play helps children to learn and gives...

Stress is a normal part of life. Whether it is a minor challenge or a major crisis, it is our body’s way of telling us that things are...