Специалисты по детской психологии в здравоохранении: профессия и образование.

Child life specialists are pediatric health care professionals who work with children and families in hospitals and other settings to help them cope with the challenges of hospitalization, illness, and disability. They provide children with age appropriate preparation for medical procedures, pain management and coping strategies, and play and self expression activities. They also provide information, support, and guidance to parents, siblings, and other family members.

A child life specialist in North America is a professional traditionally employed in the hospital setting. They focus on the psychosocial development of children, and encourages effective coping strategies for children and their families under stress. Child life specialists recognize individuality in patients, and use a range of developmentally appropriate activities, including play, preparation for a medical procedure, education, self expression, and family support to help cope with hospitalization, illness, or death and dying. Child life specialists are trained to take into account the cognitive, emotional, and physical development of each child in order to encourage optimum development of children facing a challenging experience, particularly one related to healthcare and hospitalization.

The first degree program to cater specifically to the field of Child Life Specialist was Wheelock College's "The Hospitalized Child Program", which was created in 1972. By the end of the 1970s, programs at Mills College, University of Akron, and Utica College were formed. Prior to the program at Wheelock College, child life specialists typically had degrees in fields like Psychology, Human Development and Education and gained experience in practicum settings. The ACLP also formally endorses programs that meet certain requirements such as having child life specialist practicum placement. These endorsed programs are at both the undergraduate and graduate level and prepare graduates to complete the requirements to earn the credential of "Certified Child Life Specialist". As of 2020, the ACLP endorses programs at only 13 colleges and universities. The ACLP has been endorsing at the graduate level since 2018, and the first graduate program to earn their endorsement was the Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development, the same program that created the Child Life Specialist degree in 1972 when Wheelock was an independent college.

Employers vary in their requirements. The CCLS credential currently is the only one in the field. The number of child life jobs continues to rise. Virtually every children's hospital across North America has child life staff. Most children's hospitals are in large urban areas. To find a job in child life, it might be necessary to relocate to a different state. The first step to becoming a child life specialist is to receive a bachelor's degree in any field but it is most commonly attained with an emphasis on child development. The next step is to become certified in the field with CCLS as well as an internship with 600 hours. This is the bare minimum to become a child life specialist and some employers will require a Masters with family and child studies.

Results from a child life salary survey in 2000 indicated that, "on average, child life professionals earned $35,593 but this varied based on the region of the country, position held, number of years of experience in the field, education level, certification status and size of the child life program. On average, individuals who were certified in child life earned $36,256, which was about $5,510 more than those who did not have the credential."