Demystifying Research for the Clinical Child Life Specialist

Megan O’Connell, MS, CCLS, CEIM is an adjunct professor in the Child Life Leadership and Advocacy Degree Program at Erikson Institute.  Megan also works as a Certified Child Life Specialist at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland.  Megan has been a Certified Child Life specialist and educator since 2011.   She is currently the Chair of the 2023 ACLP conference planning committee and is always looking for ways to share information and best practices to lift up the child life community and advance the field.

Samina Hadi-Tabassum, Ed.D., is a professor at Erikson Institute in Chicago and directs the child life program. She teaches courses in cognitive and language development. Her research examines the intersection of race, language and culture in different contexts, and her published work focuses on ethnography as the core methodology. She received her doctorate from Columbia University.

Alyson Dutchak , CCLS at Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary Alberta. Alyson has spent her career advocating for the role of the child life specialist in mental health outpatient, and inpatient services within the pediatric children's hospital where she works. Most recently, as part of the Action Research project for the Masters of Science in Child Development and Child Life Leadership and Advocacy she helped to develop quality improvement initiatives in the Emergency Department which have been implemented to support the needs of youth who seek support for their mental health in the department.

Amanda Cleary, CCLS, is a Certified Child Life Specialist at Renown Health in Reno, NV. Amanda obtained a Master’s degree in Child Development and Child Life Leadership from Erikson Institute and a Bachelor’s degree in Human Development and Family Studies from Pennsylvania State University. Prior to her work at Renown Health, Amanda worked at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles for over 10 years. Amanda’s clinical experience includes serving patients and families across the healthcare continuum in many inpatient and outpatient units. She currently works in the General Pediatrics & PICU units. Outside of her clinical work, Amanda loves encouraging students and has experience overseeing Child Life Internship Programming. She is a mom to two beautiful children, ages seven and five.  

Anna Boucher Prudowsky, CCLS, is a Certified Child Life Specialist II at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, Texas. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Human Developmental and Family Studies with a concentration in Child Life from the University of Alabama and is currently completing her Master’s degree in Child Development with a concentration in Leadership and Advocacy through Erikson Institute. Anna completed her Child Life internship at East Tennessee Children’s Hospital in 2015 and is going on her seventh year of being certified. Anna has worked for both The Woman’s Hospital of Texas and Texas Children’s Hospital. Anna has had the opportunity to work with a largely diverse patient population including Pediatric ICU, Neonatal ICU, Pediatric Liver Transplant, Pediatric Level 1 Trauma Emergency Department, and Women’s Services where she currently is the primary CCLS. Outside of her clinical work, Anna is currently working with two other CCLSs on creating a new bereavement book for her hospital, is part of the internship task force at her hospital and is completing research that looks at the correlation between resilience, adverse childhood experiences, and teen pregnancy. She is newly married and a dog mom to two big cuddly pups.

Rachel Stinson is a Certified Child Life Specialist at Upstate Golisano Children's Hospital. She has a bachelor's degree in Child Life from Utica College and earned  a master's degree in Child Development and Child Life Leadership From Erikson Institute in 2022. Rachel has worked as a Child Life Specialist since 2009 at Upstate Golisano Childrens, both in the Emergency Department and outpatient Surgery Center. Rachel also serves as the Child Life Team lead and Student Coordinator.