Child life specialists are trained in child development and the unique challenges children experience during stressful life events. They utilize specific therapeutic play approaches that allow children to explore their experiences and build mastery and control through self-expression and development of positive coping strategies. Ashleigh most often incorporates bibliotherapy, medical play and expressive activities into her approaches.  These child-directed techniques have been proven to minimize both immediate and long-term effects of stress, anxiety, and psychological trauma. By helping children and families develop healthy coping mechanisms, child life specialists empower children and their families with new skills to navigate challenging situations.

It is often difficult for adults to know how to support children navigating any form of loss, such as divorce or the death of someone they know. Whether before or after any loss, Ashleigh has specialized expertise to help guide caregivers through their greatest concerns, such as selecting language to use when disclosing a loss to a child, decision-making around hospital visitation or funeral involvement, and how to help facilitate healthy grieving. In addition to direct caregiver support services can also include direct intervention with children to further process and promote healthy coping. 

Grief experiences can be accompanied by the process of creating keepsakes before or after the time of someone’s death with an emphasis of therapeutic process and experience for the family. Each unique situation is considered with great care and a variety of options can be offered based the needs of the family. Many modalities including stone, ink, resin and more can be utilized to preserve impressions or meaningful articles (such as one’s handwriting, flowers, photos, etc.) A variety of options and packages may be considered based on the families’ unique circumstances. These services may be provided in the home, hospital or funeral home as needed.

Empowering children with developmentally-appropriate information minimizes any fear of the unknown and helps children navigate a variety of experiences with less stress or worry. Child life specialists have unique tools to educate children on a large range of topics including the hospital environment, a new diagnosis (for themselves or a family member), medication compliance (including pill teaching), and more. Ashleigh also offers parental coaching to ensure each child is well supported by the adults they trust most.

Navigating new and potentially scary experiences, especially in healthcare, can be overwhelming for children and caregivers alike. Research demonstrates how children and families that know what to expect from a new experience have improved outcomes overall. Child life specialists equip children of all ages with developmentally-appropriate information and preparation prior to medical experiences such as vaccinations, surgeries, diagnostic imaging, visiting someone in the hospital, and more. When a child is able to see images of a new environment, engage with real or play medical equipment prior to an encounter, or process fears and worries ahead of time, they are better equipped during the encounter itself. These techniques are also beneficial prior to a variety of situations, such as planned hospital admissions, funerals, hospital visitation, or school re-entry.

High-stress situations affect the entire family and it can be challenging for caregivers to meet the individual needs of all of their children. Child life specialists use a family-centered approach to prioritize the needs of each child and are trained to notice and mitigate the unique difficulties faced by siblings of children with healthcare or other special needs.

Child life specialists work closely within interdisciplinary teams in the healthcare environment and are skilled at adapting their clinical skillset to meet the specific needs of any group. In addition to direct clinical support with clients, Ashleigh offers community-oriented sessions for children and adults. Child-focused community support may take the form of medically-focused play groups or a “Teddy Bear Clinic” or adult focused sessions with caregivers on a variety of topics. Ashleigh also especially enjoys presenting to other professionals with the ultimate goal of empowering others to better serve children and families.