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Renew Your Spirit, Inspire Your Mind VOLUME 28 • NUMBER 1 WINTER 2010 Renew Your Spirit, Inspire Your Mind AT THE 28TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE IN PHOENIX JUNE 10-13, 2010 ften referred to as the “Valley of the Sun”, Phoenix is known for its year-round beautiful weather, vibrant southwestern culture, and deep-rooted Native American history. Against Othe backdrop of the breathtaking Sonoran desert, CLC invites you to Renew Your Spirit and Inspire Your Mind at the Child Life Council 28th Conference on Professional Issues. An anticipated 1,000 attendees will gather at the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel for Stefan Friedrichsdorf,M.D. the premier educational event for child life professionals. The Annual Conference in 2010 will offer attendees more intensives, seminars and workshops, and opportunities to earn PDHs than any prior conference. Attendees can earn up to 27 Professional Development Hours, with basic conference registration comprising 16 of those hours. The Emma Plank Keynote Address will center on Integrative Pediatric Pain Management and Palliative Care and will be delivered by Stefan Friedrichsdorf, MD. Dr. Friedrichsdorf is a pediatrician and Medical Director of the Pain and Palliative Care Program at Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota. He is an internationally known lecturer in the areas of pediatric pain management and palliative care. Frank Thompson, founder of the Arizona Rhythm Connection (AZRC), will present the Closing General Session on Sunday, June 13. The AZRC is a group of highly skilled facilitators whose primary focus is to bring the joy of rhythm and percussion to any and all events where Frank Thompson rhythm is welcome. Frank has been facilitating rhythm for over 25 years, and he is an approved provider of continuing education units for the American Music Therapy Association and the continued on page 7 INSIDE The Child Life Alphabet Annual Report 3 F IS FOR FEAR children and young people in a healthcare set- Vocal Anesthesia Catherine Northup, B. Ed, CCLS, ting. Robinson et al., (1986, cited in Nicastro 4 Senior Child Life Specialist, Johns & Whetsell, 1999) describe fear as the rela- A Medical Student’s Hopkins Children’s Center, tionship between an estimation of an individ- 5 Experience with Child Life Baltimore, Maryland ual’s personal power in comparison to the power of the unknown, with lower estimates 6 Writing for the Bulletin ries and screams heard through a treat- of personal power leading to greater levels of ment room door, a child sitting on a bed fear. As child life specialists, our role is not In Focus: Cclinging to his mother with tears rolling only to assess the level of fear that a child may down his face, eyes wide. Does this sound Featured Author:Diane Levin experience, but also the source of the fear, and familiar to you? Fear in children is an experi- to determine methods of intervention that will Problem Solving Deficit Disorder ence that child life specialists encounter on a assist the child to reduce that fear, to provide regular basis. Knowledge of the developmen- From “I Want It!”to “I Can Do It!” realistic expectations, and to provide the tal aspects of fear, separation, stranger anxiety, opportunity to experience a sense of control. TRUCE Guide on Infant & Toddler the supernatural, fears associated with body image, and social fears are a part of our train- Procedures and surgery are common sources Play,Toys & Media ing and guide our practice when working with of fear for patients in a healthcare setting. continued on page 11 BULLETIN WINTER 2010 new task forces. Three of these groups — PRESIDENT’S PERSPECTIVE the Child Life Internship Task Force, the Academic Programs Task Force, and the Research and Scholarship Task Force — will focus on recommendations which came from Looking back at 2009 the work at the Academic Summit in 2009. In collaboration with the Education and Ellen Good, MS Ed, CCLS Training Committee, each task force will Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital, New Haven, CT focus on specific aspects of internships, education and training, and research possi- s another year Executive Director, will highlight many of bilities. The fourth task force will look at comes to an these in his column beginning on the next developing a national average for a child life Aend, I find it page of this issue. A few highlights include: staff/patient ratio. the perfect time • The presentation of a very successful CLC to reflect upon CLC will also be using online communi- Annual Conference in Boston past accomplishments and to plan for new cation and information technologies in some beginnings and fresh starts. The Child Life • Collaborating in an exciting Academic exciting new ways, including the recently- Council Executive Board and staff have been Summit at Wheelock College introduced e-newsletter, Child Life News doing just that: reviewing CLC’s activities in Monthly, and an upcoming series of webinar • The relocation of the Child Life Council 2009 and putting the final touches on our offerings. We’ll be debuting two new Web- headquarters to a new office space plans for 2010. based, searchable directories: the Child Life A new series of projects we’re working on Marketplace, a directory of vendors offering Our accomplishments over the past year for 2010 begins with the creation of four products and services used by child life pro- have been numerous. Dennis Reynolds, our grams, and an online ver- sion of the Directory of Child Life Programs. One of our biggest undertakings in 2010 will be in the development of a new pro- fessional networking space, with an impressive array of tools and resources catered specifically to the needs of the child life community. This new online commu- nity will be available to the membership later in the year. There are so many new projects going on through CLC, we expect 2010 to be an exciting year The CLC Board met at our semi-annual Board meeting in November,2009,near the CLC headquarters in Washington,DC. for child life! Top row (left to right):Janet Cross,Stacy Koenig,Dennis Reynolds,Ellen Good,Jodi Bauers,Sharon McLeod,Chris Brown,Diane Hart. Bottom row:Eugene W.Johnson,Anita H.Pumphrey,Nicole Graham Rosburg,Patricia "Trish" Haneman Cox. Child Life Council Bulletin/FOCUS CLC HAS A NEW ADDRESS! 11821 Parklawn Drive,Suite 310,Rockville,MD 20852-2529 (800) CLC-4515 • (301) 881-7090 • Fax (301) 881-7092 We are pleased to announce that CLC successful- www.childlife.org • Email:[email protected] ly moved offices in late Fall 2009. If you will be mailing anything to the office,please be sure to President Executive Editor Associate Editor Executive Director Managing Editor note the new street number and suite number Ellen Good Joan Turner Anne Mohl Dennis Reynolds Melissa Boyd of our address: Published quarterly,mailed the 18th of January,March,June and September.Articles should be submitted 11821 Parklawn Dr.Ste.301 by the 15th of January,April,July and October.Please see Submission Guidelines in the Bulletin Newsletter Rockville,Maryland 20852 section of the CLC Web site for more information. For information on how to place an ad in the Bulletin,please refer to the Marketing Opportunities If you are in the greater DC area and want to see section of the CLC Web site: http://www.childlife.org/Marketing Opportunities/ our new offices,feel free to stop by! 2 A PUBLICATION OF THE CHILD LIFE COUNCIL BULLETIN WINTER 2010 and preserved; the Child Life Certifying Child Life Council Committee oversees a whole sphere of activi- ty that is at the core of the profession; and Annual Report to Membership the Bulletin work group supports ongoing Dennis Reynolds efforts to bring scholarship to the forefront Executive Director and address professional matters in child life. 2009 has also been a year of many new rite but true, it certification remained extremely high. committees and task forces, as CLC takes on is amazing how Early in the year, more than two dozen a growing range of activities. Last spring, the Tfast the year has CLC members met in Fort Worth, Texas, Partnerships Review Committee was formed gone. I am closing in on my first anniver- to review and revise existing items in the to help CLC advance alliances with other sary here at CLC, and it has been a pleasure certification exam item bank, and to nonprofits, manage business relationships and a privilege to work with the CLC introduce new ones. with the commercial sector serving child life, Executive Board, the CLC Committees, the and evaluate other partnerships with the members, and the staff. As I reflect back on CONFERENCE potential to benefit our members. The new the year, I see many strong achievements in Approximately 950 attendees participated Leadership Development Committee is work- the midst of uncertain times, and I would in the 27th Annual Conference on ing to enhance Child Life Council efforts to like to share some of the highlights. Professional Issues from May 21-24 in recruit and develop leaders within CLC, as Boston, Massachusetts. This represented a well as helping members develop leadership CHILD LIFE IN UNCERTAIN 10% drop in attendance from the previous skills to apply in their own work environ- ECONOMIC TIMES year, with many members reporting that the ments. The work of several new task forces When I began at CLC in February, the economy (and resulting cuts in travel and formed this year will be discussed below. economic downturn was a primary concern professional development funding) was a fac- for all of us. Professional associations were tor in their decision not to attend. However, MEMBER SERVICES: closely following what was happening with the drop in attendance was far less than most DEVELOPING NEW TOOLS their respective memberships.
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