Through these Child Life Chronicles, I plan on opening my readers' eyes to a career not many have heard of: Certified Child Life Specialist, or CCLS. A Child Life Specialist is someone who works in a medical setting to help the children admitted to the hospital cope with the challenges of hospitalization, illness, and disability. I have been conducting interviews with some of the Child Life Staff from Greenville Hospital System.

This is the interview I conducted with Taylor Stathes, who is the CCLS for the radiology department and pediatric sedation services. Besides being a certified Child Life Specialist, Stathes has also obtained an M.S. and is a Certified Therapeutic Recreational Specialist (C.T.R.S.). Our interview was very interesting and opened my eyes to some things I never thought of about Child Life. I hope you love this interview like I did!

Personal Profile

1. What is your favorite color?

Purple.

2. What is your favorite movie?

Finding Nemo.

3. If you could trade lives with anyone in the world for a month, who would you want to trade with?

If I could trade lives with anyone in the world for a month it would definitely be the Founder of The Black-Jaguar- White Tiger Foundation. He runs a safe rescue sanctuary for big cats and other exotic animals! I love to follow his Instagram account and watch him interact with all of the tigers and lions (especially the cubs)! I would love to snuggle up to those animals for a month, knowing the love and trust they have for him!

Child Life Questions

1. Can you explain what it means to be a CTRS? How does one acquire that title?

Their role is to rehabilitate using leisure and personal interest as a form of rehab and reintegrating back into the community. These individuals range from someone who has sustained injury due to a car accident, or retraining their mind and bodies following a stroke.

You work alongside other therapists to help an individual get back to their everyday routine and be active in the community again. They are there to provide resources for community support, as well as practice and master activities of daily living after leaving the hospital. These specialists can be found in clinical and community-based settings.

2. Did you become a CTRS or CCLS first? What is the difference between the two careers?

Obtained my CTRS certification first. There is a difference in the careers, but having both certifications and education under my belt, they mesh so well when working in a clinical setting!

3. What schools did you attend and for how long?

Undergraduate degree from Clemson University majoring in Recreational Therapy and a minor in Sociology (2009-2013).

Graduate work from the University of La Verne in California obtaining an MS in Child Life (2013-2015).

4. Why did you decide to pursue Child Life?

Since high school, I knew I wanted to work with kids, but I also had an interest in the medical field. It was during a summer camp in Indiana for children with various disabilities where I learned of the field of child life.

I spent the whole summer working alongside these individuals, heard their stories and the impact they had on children and families during some of the most challenging and traumatic times of their lives. Knowing that I could make a difference in the delivery of healthcare services for children was a huge selling point for me. It is a profession that is perfectly linked to my personality, interests, and unique abilities.

5. Did you always want to have a career in Child Life or did you change your mind along the way to becoming a CCLS?

It’s interesting because for my whole life I had never even heard of a child life specialist. In the state of SC, there are only three hospitals that have a child life program and very little programs in non-traditional settings.

I loved my education in recreational therapy and it is something that is still very near and dear to my heart, but after learning of child life, that was then my dream job! I think having a degree in recreational therapy only enhances my practice as a child life specialist. I wouldn’t trade that journey for the world.

6. What are your favorite and least favorite parts of your career?

I would word it rewarding versus challenging aspects of the job!

Often times I hear people say, “I want your job, all you do is play for a living.” While this is true to a certain extent, there is so much more to the field of child life! People rarely see that this play is purposeful and driven by individualized goals set for each child.

I love that I have the opportunity to connect with children at their developmental level and support them through their hospital experience. It is just a rewarding job to see the whole process through. At the end of the day, if I’ve encouraged just one child through an MRI without sedation, a smooth IV start, or just bringing a smile on a child’s face through empowerment, I’ve done my job!

The most challenging aspect of my job is leaving work at work! We are working with children and families during some of the most traumatic times in their lives. You build relationships with these individuals and sometimes, going home knowing that they still have to remain here at the hospital is really tough (especially when you’re a softy like me).

The most important thing they taught us in school is to “take care of the caregiver,” so in other words, give yourself a break to avoid burnout. Also, when it comes to my family and friends, I want them to have my full attention. Even though it is hard to do, it is something I work on daily so that I can come to work fresh and ready to give children and families my all.

7. What does Child Life mean to you?

I could write a book about what this profession means to me. I get a great mix of all of my favorite things in one career! I feel as though I am a servant leader, and this job allows me to serve so many individuals on a daily basis, during some of the hardest times of their lives. Not only that, I am here to celebrate so many milestones as well!

8. Tell me your favorite story about your Child Life journey. It can be from any point in your journey, school, internship, applying for a job, a fun story from work.

When you are a student, you hear a lot that you need to really think about the words you’re using when communicating with children. There can be a TON of misconceptions and confusion when we talk about the medical environment, and this story proved that to be true and really stuck with me until this day.

As an intern, I was doing a rotation in pre-op. I was prepping a little girl, probably around seven years old, and I asked her “What brought you here today?” In my mind, I wanted to know why she was getting surgery, but to her that meant LITERALLY what brought her here. Her response was, "ummm, my mom’s car!” I thought I wouldn’t stop laughing! It was just a prime example that as CCLS working with children, it is important to be mindful of how we communicate and what words we use when we are trying to explain things.

9.What sort of activities do you do with your patients on your units that may differ from other units in the hospital?

I am in an outpatient unit, so my time is pretty limited with kids. It is important that I am able to enter the room and build a quick rapport with the children and families. After we get to know each other a little, I will prep them for their procedure or scan and then provide procedural support and distraction throughout their time here.

I am constantly going from one patient to the next seeing who might benefit from child life services. If children are here for a little longer, I can provide activities or show them our outpatient playroom to help the time pass and to normalize their environment.

10. Is there anything we have not discussed that you believe is important for the readers to know?