Realizing the Essential Role of Therapeutic Play in Child Life: Incorporating Play Facilitation Skills from Core Competency to Advanced Practice

Therapeutic Recreation, Child Life & Creative Arts Therapies NYU Langone Medical Center

Chris is a Certified Child Life Specialist and the Director of Therapeutic Recreation, Child Life & Creative Arts Therapies at NYU Langone Medical Center. Primary responsibilities include managing child life and creative arts programs provided to pediatric inpatients and outpatients at NYU Langone’s Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital, as well as services on several adult inpatient units within the health system.
Chris has a Bachelor’s degree from Purdue University and a Master’s from Nova Southeastern University. Her Child Life career has included internship training at Johns Hopkins Hospital and clinical or managerial positions at James L. Kernan Hospital in Baltimore, MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland, Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Dell Children's Medical Center in Austin, and UF Health in Gainesville FL. Chris has assumed leadership roles reflective of her dedication to the child life profession, having held several board and committee positions with the Association of Child Life Professionals (ACLP), and is a Past-President of both ACLP and the Association for the Care of Children’s Health. She served as Liaison to the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Committee on Hospital Care for eight years and authored the 2014 AAP Policy Statement on Child Life Services. As a frequent speaker at national and international conferences and author of several professional publications, chapters, and articles, Chris’ areas of expertise include the therapeutic value of play, patient and family-centered care, interdisciplinary education and collaboration, palliative care/bereavement, and program development.