Child Life Wild Life

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Child Life Wild Life

Jessica Lewin, CCLS

78 episodes

5 months ago

Certified Child Life Specialist, Jessica Lewin, hosts this final episode of The Child Life Wild Life Podcast with Alexx Friesen to celebrate the profound impact child life specialists make in pediatric healthcare through a collection of heartfelt stories sent in by specialists across the field. What unfolds is a tapestry of remarkable moments that showcase exactly why child life work matters. From the specialist who calmed a screaming child in the ER—causing their blood pressure to visibly d...

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Self-Improvement,

Health & Fitness,

Education for Kids

All content for Child Life Wild Life is the property of Jessica Lewin, CCLS and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

Certified Child Life Specialist, Jessica Lewin, hosts this final episode of The Child Life Wild Life Podcast with Alexx Friesen to celebrate the profound impact child life specialists make in pediatric healthcare through a collection of heartfelt stories sent in by specialists across the field. What unfolds is a tapestry of remarkable moments that showcase exactly why child life work matters. From the specialist who calmed a screaming child in the ER—causing their blood pressure to visibly d...

Show more...

Self-Improvement,

Health & Fitness,

Education for Kids

Episodes (20/78)

Child Life Wild Life

The Wild Life of The Best Moments in the Child Life Profession narrated by Alexx Friesen and Jessica Lewin

Certified Child Life Specialist, Jessica Lewin, hosts this final episode of The Child Life Wild Life Podcast with Alexx Friesen to celebrate the profound impact child life specialists make in pediatric healthcare through a collection of heartfelt stories sent in by specialists across the field. What unfolds is a tapestry of remarkable moments that showcase exactly why child life work matters. From the specialist who calmed a screaming child in the ER—causing their blood pressure to visibly d...

5 months ago

1 hour 7 minutes

Child Life Wild Life

The Wild Life of Being a Neurodivergent CCLS with Ellen Palmer

Certified Child Life Specialist, Jessica Lewin, talks with friend and CCLS, Ellen Palmer, about her journey as a dyslexic and ADHD-diagnosed child life specialist, sharing how these differences have become her "superpowers" in the emergency department. What if your neurodivergence wasn't just something to overcome, but actually your greatest professional asset? Ellen's story begins with her early diagnosis of dyslexia and later discovery of ADHD as an adult professional. With refreshing...

5 months ago

34 minutes

Child Life Wild Life

The Wild Life of Being a Child Life Student with Anisha Reza [A student’s honest perspective for how CCLSs can better support, mentor, and teach students entering the field]

Certified Child Life Specialist, Jessica Lewin, talks with friend and new CCLS, Anisha Reza, about her journey as a second-generation immigrant and career-changer who brings a unique lens to our field. Having previously pursued medical school before finding her true calling in child life, Anisha offers invaluable insights on the challenges students face—particularly those from diverse backgrounds. When was the last time you truly listened to a student's perspective on the child life professio...

5 months ago

58 minutes

Child Life Wild Life

The Wild Life of Sitting Comfortably in Silence in the PICU with Kelley Gavel

Certified Child Life Specialist, Jessica Lewin, talks with friend and CCLS, Kelley Gavel, about her journey through the challenges and profound rewards of supporting children and families in critical care settings. With dual master's degrees in Developmental Psychology and Clinical Counseling, Kelley brings a uniquely holistic perspective to her work in a bustling 36-bed Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). The conversation delves into the unexpected ways child life extends beyond hospital w...

6 months ago

46 minutes

Child Life Wild Life

The Wild Life of Family-Centered Care and Sibling Support with Caitlin Wolf

Certified Child Life Specialist, Jessica Lewin, talks with friend and CCLS, Caitlin Wolf, about her work in pediatric hematology/oncology, and how she prioritizes siblings through thoughtful interventions and family-centered care practices. With passion and creativity, she shares practical strategies for maintaining crucial connections between patients and siblings during lengthy hospital stays or repeated admissions. From digital picture frames that allow photo sharing between hospital and h...

6 months ago

28 minutes

Child Life Wild Life

The Wild Life of Building Rapport When You Don’t Speak the Same Language with Morgan Livingstone

Certified Child Life Specialist, Jessica Lewin, talks with friend and CCLS, Morgan Livingstone, about her understanding that effective support doesn't require special equipment—it requires presence, creativity, and genuine connection through play, regardless of what language you may speak. Morgan's 28-year journey as a Certified Child Life Specialist has taken her from oncology units in Canada to remote Indigenous communities, and across continents to Kenya, Colombia, Botswana, and beyond. H...

6 months ago

48 minutes

Child Life Wild Life

The Wild Life of Being Dual-Certified as a CCLS and Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS) with Katie Lavallee

Certified Child Life Specialist, Jessica Lewin, talks with friend and CCLS, Katie Lavallee, about the powerful synergy between recreational therapy and child life. As a dual-certified professional with a decade of recreational therapy experience and seven years as a child life specialist, Katie offers unique insights into how these complementary fields enhance patient care. Katie's journey began at age 12 when a compassionate child life specialist transformed her emergency department experie...

6 months ago

29 minutes

Child Life Wild Life

The Wild Life Of Leaving the Child Life Profession and Not Feeling Guilty About It with Caelin Hallgren and Ramonna Datuin

Certified Child Life Specialist, Jessica Lewin, talks with friends and CCLSs, Caelin Hallgren and Ramonna Datuin, about their newly found work/life balance as they have recently stepped away from the child life profession. The moment of reckoning came differently for each – for Ramonna, it was realizing her entire identity had become wrapped up in her clinical role, while Caelin found herself wishing for anything (even a car accident) just to avoid another workday. Their stories reflect a gro...

6 months ago

1 hour 23 minutes

Child Life Wild Life

The Wild Life of Using Your Child Life Skills as a Postpartum Doula with Veronica Burns

Certified Child Life Specialist, Jessica Lewin, talks with friend and CCLS, Veronica Burns, about her pivotal career shift to become a thriving postpartum doula and infant mental health specialist. Veronica's journey reflects what many professionals experience—the desire to apply specialized healthcare knowledge in settings that better honor their unique strengths and circumstances. After becoming certified in 2018 and briefly working in child advocacy, health challenges and insufficie...

7 months ago

44 minutes

Child Life Wild Life

The Wild Life of Child Life in the Camp Setting with Allison Messerly

Certified Child Life Specialist, Jessica Lewin, talks with friend and CCLS, Allison Messerly, about taking child life to camp! What happens when you take a child life specialist out of the hospital and place them in a summer camp setting for kids with cancer? Magic, advocacy, and a whole new world of psychological support. Allison Messerly shares her journey from hospital-based child life to creating a comprehensive support system at a day camp for children with cancer and their siblings. Th...

7 months ago

43 minutes

Child Life Wild Life

The Wild Life of Working on the Burn Unit with Kate Hamelin

Certified Child Life Specialist, Jessica Lewin, talks with friend and CCLS, Kate Hamelin, about her 20 years of experience working on the burn unit. Starting her career as a social worker working within the child welfare arena, she pivoted unexpectedly into child life and has never left. Throughout this episode, we take a peek into the burn ICU's complexities, discussing the delicate balance of providing care and preparing young patients for the stark realities they may face. Ka...

1 year ago

38 minutes

Child Life Wild Life

The Wild Life of Teaching the Next Generation (Professor Panel)

Certified Child Life Specialist, Jessica Lewin, sits down with three child life professors to see what the world of academics looks like. Please welcome Cara Smith, Savannah Kelly, and Amanda Butler to the podcast. Learn about the ways in which these three have kept things interesting in the classroom throughout the pandemic, and kept the key skills of child life at the forefront of their careers as professors through assessment, building rapport, advocacy for the field and their stude...

1 year ago

40 minutes

Child Life Wild Life

The Wild Life of Using your Passions with Erin Tukua

Certified Child Life Specialist, Jessica Lewin, talks with friend and CCLS, Erin Tukua, about utilizing her previous job experience as a professional photographer to elevate her techniques she uses with patients and families in the child life profession. Inside this creative episode, we spotlight Erin's innovative practice of using photography as an intervention to help families navigate their child's hospital stay. She opens up about her experiences during her practicum and internship...

1 year ago

29 minutes

Child Life Wild Life

The Wild Life of Supporting Children of Adult Patients with Shira Miller

Certified Child Life Specialist, Jessica Lewin, talks with friend and CCLS, Shira Miller, about her almost 2 decades of experience working within the same hospital, moving up the clinical ladder and creating the COAST (Children of Adults Support Team) Program. COAST program and the ways in which child life services have evolved to support not just end-of-life situations but the entire spectrum of a parent's health challenges is a remarkable example of how child life can expand within the hos...

1 year ago

45 minutes

Child Life Wild Life

The Wild Life of Palliative Care/Legacy Building with Melissa Schmautz

Certified Child Life Specialist, Jessica Lewin, talks with friend and CCLS, Melissa Schmautz, about her 17 years of experience, wisdom, and compassionate practices in child life and palliative care. Melissa tells stories about helping families navigate the heartbreak of acknowledging death with their young ones, offering a rare glimpse into the delicate art of conveying the incomprehensible to the most innocent among us. As we unravel Melissa's professional work, she casts light upon t...

1 year ago

44 minutes

Child Life Wild Life

The Wild Life of Navigating Autoimmune Diseases as a CCLS with Maddie Bozikis

Certified Child Life Specialist, Jessica Lewin, talks with friend and CCLS, Maddie Bozikis, about her experience navigating autoimmune diseases as a student and professional. Having battled with autoimmune diseases since high school, Maddie takes us through a profound journey of courage and resilience in the face of persistent health challenges. As Maddie unveils her experiences, we explore the unique hurdles she has encountered while balancing the demanding child life profession and ...

1 year ago

24 minutes

Child Life Wild Life

The Wild Life of ED/Trauma Bay Experiences with Kelsey Champion

Certified Child Life Specialist, Jessica Lewin, talks with friend and CCLS, Kelsey Champion, about her almost decade experience working in the Emergency Department; a department she wasn't quite sure she'd land in originally, but has really found her calm in the chaos. Navigating the high-stakes world of an emergency department requires a special blend of skills and heart, something Kelsey Champion possesses in abundance. As she shares her behind-the-scenes stories from the trauma bay,...

1 year ago

35 minutes

Child Life Wild Life

The Wild Life of Navigating Grief and Private Practice with Jessica Correnti

Certified Child Life Specialist, Jessica Lewin, talks with friend and CCLS, Jessica Correnti, about her personal experience with grief and how that has shaped her in her private practice providing support to grieving siblings and families. With an extensive background in ICU settings and grief support, Jessica joins us to illuminate the intricacies of supporting children and families through some their darkest moments. Her narrative, woven from both personal heartache and professional triump...

1 year ago

40 minutes

Child Life Wild Life

The Wild Life of Navigating Toxic Positivity in Child Life with Shani Thornton

Certified Child Life Specialist, Jessica Lewin, talks with friend and seasoned CCLS, Shani Thornton, about how child life specialists can understand the differences between toxic positivity, burnout, and compassion fatigue. Together, Shani and Jessica peel back the curtain on the child life profession's hidden struggle with toxic positivity. Shani, with her 16 years of experience, offers a wealth of knowledge, encouraging a shift from a culture of false cheerfulness to one that embraces genu...

1 year ago

39 minutes

Child Life Wild Life

The Wild Life of Radiology and Pain Management with Kat Attermeier

Certified Child Life Specialist, Jessica Lewin, talks with friend and CCLS, Kat Attermeier, about utilizing pain management tools through her work in the radiology department. Today, Kat finds herself at home in the radiology department, a place where she once felt intimidated. She has grown to embrace the pace and challenges that come with building quick rapport with patients. Kat educates many staff on atraumatic care, child life principles like how to use play, and pain management. ...

1 year ago

38 minutes