Colorado State University

College of Applied Human Sciences

Child Life Program

Child Life is a therapeutic approach to helping children and their families prior to, during, and following a child’s hospitalization experience. Hospitalization, whether for chronic or acute diagnoses, can prove to be very stressful for children. The Certified Child Life Specialist (CCLS) is primarily responsible for developmental assessments and planned interventions, using play (particularly medical play) as a medium for learning and affect expression, teaching coping strategies that are age and procedure appropriate, doing pre- and post-operative processing, and serving as an advocate for the child within the hospital environment. The CCLS also provides support for parents and siblings through programs and support groups. They plan and execute both bedside and playroom activities and are often present during painful procedures or postoperatively to provide support for the child. Child Life Specialists are part of the health care team that includes doctors, nurses, physical therapists, social workers and other health care professionals.

Jobs are located only in children’s hospitals or regional medical centers with large pediatric bed counts. Because the Rocky Mountain region has few hospitals meeting this criterion, job openings are rare and very competitive. Successful entry into this career usually means a willingness to relocate to any of the major urban centers of the U.S. However, because of limited job openings, one cannot usually select a city or region where you wish to live and anticipate finding an opening in that area.

To sit for the national exam to become a certified child life specialist, you need a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited school, 10 courses in child life or related subjects, and 480 hours of internship under a CCLS. Internship applications are competitive. It is important to have experience working with children in group settings and complete volunteer work in a pediatric hospital or unit. Our students typically spend six months volunteering at Children’s Hospital of Denver or at National Jewish Hospital. Given that there is only one (highly competitive) internship site in Colorado, at The Children’s Hospital of Denver, our students usually complete their 12- to 14-week internship out of state.

It is also possible to become certified at the Master’s level, through our Family & Developmental Studies program. For more information about this, please see that webpage: Family and Developmental Studies webpage

Related to the courses required for certification, HDFS at CSU is one of the few university programs that have a child life focus, providing a strong curriculum in child development and family courses, medical terminology, anatomy/physiology, grief and loss, play behavior, and stress and coping in children. At CSU, the required classes are taken as part of the HDFS core and career focus electives. These courses are listed below. For advising related to child life, please contact Dr. David MacPhee.