Trauma-Informed Care at the Heart of Child Life Career

Three Takeaways

• Child life specialists help children cope with medical trauma
• Building relationships an essential skill for child life professionals
• Learning to expect and address the unexpected is important in child life training

As a child life specialist, a large part of Andrea Evans’ day-to-day responsibilities involve reducing the likelihood of medical trauma in young children. “There is more awareness of trauma-informed care now, but I think advocating for that in the medical space is one of the biggest parts of my job,” she said. “When kids feel safe and supported in a setting that feels good to them, they heal quicker and cope better. You want families to have a more trusting relationship with their providers. I think looking at the whole child including their background and experiences of trauma shapes how they experience the world and how they build relationships.”

Building relationships is a key component in any Erikson Institute master’s degree program, but especially in the Master’s in Child Development — Child Life degree which Evans completed in 2023. Child life specialists work in medical settings where young children and their families are coping with injury, illness or chronic medical conditions which can be emotionally and physically painful for a child. Having someone in the exam room who is solely focused on understanding and supporting the child can lessen any trauma they may experience.

Growing up with a sibling who had medical challenges introduced Evans to the power of child life work. Her sister has a rare genetic condition and was in and out of the hospital when they were young.

“Seeing the way she was treated in general by medical staff, contrasted with how she was treated by the child life specialist when we met them the first time, was really impactful for me,” Evans said. “The child life specialist got down on her level, looked her in the eye, held her hand. She just treated her like a human.”

Currently dividing her time as a child life specialist between Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago and Lutheran General in Park Ridge, Evans began her career as a preschool teacher and held multiple other roles in early childhood education. She decided to move into child life, a role that she knew would challenge her, and chose Erikson to deepen her skills in child development and family studies. A big part of Andrea’s Erikson education prepared her to expect the unexpected.

“I don’t need to know exactly how to answer every situation I’m thrown into. I just need to be able to rely on the knowledge that I have and think critically and take what I’ve learned and be able to apply it to real life situations…there isn’t going to be a right answer or perfect solution to any of these situations. Life is really complicated and that is okay,” she says.

In her roles at Lurie Children’s Hospital and Lutheran General, Evans wears many hats. She works with an inpatient unit where she helps prepare young children for transplants, pediatric surgery and acute care. She sees a wide variety of patients, including those with behavioral issues. Evans also partners with the radiology department in helping children understand what to expect from procedures like MRIs, ultrasounds or tests using ingested medicine. She also helps prepare children to manage any pain they may experience.

Evans noted that even when typically developing children are in the hospital, they don’t have a voice. Often, they are seen as a patient and not as a child. “Learning more about the field, having a medically fragile sibling, I see a lot of things that I didn’t have access to that would have been really beneficial,” she said. “It feels very meaningful to me to provide those services to families that need it…it feels kinda full circle.”

If you’re passionate about supporting young children through challenging experiences and want to integrate trauma-informed practices into your work, consider pursuing a Master’s in Child Development with a concentration in Child Life. Our degree program prepares you to advocate for children in medical settings, build trusting relationships with families, and apply a whole-child approach to healing.

Learn more about how our master’s degree can prepare you for a meaningful career in child life.