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Expanding child life beyond health care

A woman painting with a child.
Kevin White
/
Missouri State University
Using art to help kids.

New book highlights opportunities in community settings.

Our weekly program, Missouri State Journal, is a collaboration between KSMU Radio and Missouri State University. It's hosted and produced by MSU's Office of Strategic Communication, and it airs each Tuesday morning at 9:45 a.m. on KSMU. 

Child life specialists are professionals who help children cope with the stress and trauma related to challenging life experiences.

In an effort to promote the child life specialist profession, three experts in the field came together to present new research in their book, “The Role of Child Life Specialists in Community Settings,” published by IGI Global.

The book’s editors are Dr. Lindsey Murphy, assistant professor and graduate child life studies program director at Missouri State University, Cara Smith, child life clinical instructor at Missouri State and Prof. Genevieve Lowry from Bank Street College of Education.

The book serves as an innovative guide for those interested in pursuing child life in diverse settings. It’s also a catalyst to push the profession beyond its current health care boundaries.

In recognition of Child Life Month, Murphy and Smith share more about the child life field and their book.

Read the full audio transcript

Check out “The Role of Child Life Specialists in Community Settings”

A native of Malaysia, Emily moved to Springfield in 2010 and started working at Missouri State University in 2014. She’s currently the assistant director in the Office of Strategic Communication. She has a BA in Mass Communications from Colorado State University-Pueblo and a Master of Journalism from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada.