How to be a Child Life Specialist

As the field of Child Life grows, the road to becoming a Child Life Specialist is more structured. 

In a nutshell, these are the basic steps:

1. Volunteer (At a hospital)

 All About Volunteering

2. Practicum (With a Child Life Department)

Check out Memorial Health in Savannah, Georgia.  
They have a new independent practicum they are offering. Both Sydney and Caroline spent many hours volunteering here, and would recommend you looking into it.

3. Internship (Under supervision of CCLS) 

 Here are the posts we have about internships: 

All about applying 
Interview Tips 
Dressing Professionally
Questions for you to ask the interviewer 
Offer Day Advice
You got internship now what?

4. Class taught by a CCLS (online or in person)

5. Bachelor’s Degree (In related field)

6. Certification (Through Association of Child Life Professionals)

7. Masters (as of 2022 it will be required)

Steps are not necessarily completed in this order.

For more information on becoming a child life specialist head over to childlife.org.