Prepare for your role as a Certified Child Life Specialist in health care settings.
Develop specialization for the health care field.
As a Certified Child Life Specialist in hospitals and community-based medical centers, you’ll be able to use your Erikson-acquired skills to advocate for children and their families in health-care settings as they cope with chronic and acute illness, injury, or trauma. Help them understand their complex health care challenges and to minimize the stresses brought on by medical procedures and the hospitalization experience.
CHILD LIFE CONCENTRATION HIGHLIGHTS
This 40-credit hour program can be personalized to your focus on child life. Apply by January 15th for this program that starts in the Fall.
Gain actionable, valuable child development knowledge for your work with children and families.
Meets the academic standards of the Association of Child Life Professionals (ACLP).
On completion of program requirements, be eligible to sit for the Child Life Professional Certification Examination.
Complete a two-semester internship with a minimum of 600 hours under the supervision by a Certified Child Life Specialist in an approved child life clinical program.
Learn from our nationally recognized faculty and build a network of colleagues.
Depending on your goals, choose from a 2 year or 3 year program.
Each concentration allows you to delve deep into a key area of child development. You’ll build a toolkit of new skills to help you thrive in this demanding field.
FINANCIAL SUPPORT & SCHOLARSHIP OPTIONS
With dozens of scholarships and financial aid opportunities, our team is here to help you make your graduate education more affordable.
Based on your unique professional goals, we can help you understand tuition and expenses, and identify possible financial support opportunities.
FAQS
Here are answers to frequently asked questions.
In addition to the general requirements for admission to the child development master’s program, we require the following for admission to this highly competitive child life program:
Yes, you may apply for an internship outside of the Chicago area hospitals to national clinical sites. You will be required to join weekly clinical seminars virtually in the internship year.
Please see the list of accredited hospital sites across the nation on the ACLP website. Erikson will support you in securing an internship with mentoring and coaching.
We cannot guarantee placement in an approved child life internship since the decisions for acceptance into the internships are the purview of the child life clinical programs. If you are unable to secure an approved internship in either the fall or spring semester, you will need to secure a child life internship during the summer term after the completion of your coursework. If you do not secure an internship after three attempts, you will need to graduate from Erikson Institute with a Master’s Degree in Child Development, but without a child life concentration. You may continue to seek a child life internship on your own after graduation but as an independent applicant, not affiliated with Erikson Institute.