Course Details

After successful completion of HDFS402 students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate understanding of the history and theoretical foundations of therapeutic play.
2. Explain basic therapy skill development.
3. Examine abilities within ethnically and culturally diverse contexts.
4. Distinguish the role of therapeutic play in the context of the participant’s clinical and non-clinical system.

Child Life Competencies

1. Care of Infants, Children, Youth and Families
   1. Competency-The ability to assess the developmental and psychosocial needs of infants, children, youth and families.

1. Competency-The ability to initiate and maintain meaningful and therapeutic relationships with infants, children, youth and families.

1. Competency-The ability to provide opportunities for play for infants, children, youth and families.
2. Competency-The ability to provide a safe, therapeutic and healing environment for infants, children, youth and families.

1. Competency-The ability to support infants, children, youth, and families in coping with stressful events.

1. Competency-The ability to provide teaching, specific to the population served, including psychological preparation for potentially stressful experiences, with infants and children.

1. Professional Responsibility
   1. Competency-The ability to practice within the scope of professional and personal knowledge and skill base.

1. Competency-The ability to continuously engage in self-reflective professional child life practice.

1. Competency-The ability to function as a member of the service team.

1. Education and Supervision
   1. Competency-The ability to represent and communicate child life practice and psychosocial issues of infants, children, youth, and families to others.

1. Competency-The ability to supervise child life students and volunteers.

1. Research Fundamentals
   1. Competency-The ability to integrate clinical evidence and fundamental child life knowledge into professional decision-making.

1. Administration
   1. Competency-The ability to develop and evaluate child life services.
   2. Competency-The ability to implement child life services within the structure and culture of the work environment.

(From https://www.childlife.org/files/ChildLifeCompetenciesJune2016.pdf)

Forums

Please join the forums each week. Students must post a reply to each weekly forum and reply to at least 2 other students for each Forum. Replies must be posted in the week due and replies after the end of the each week will not be graded. The Forums are for student interaction and input should be submitted before the week ends in order to fully participate in the discussions.

Students should demonstrate their own knowledge in the forums and avoid copying and pasting from websites.

Guidelines:

• Post the initial response to each forum by 11:55pm, ET, Wednesday.
• Initial responses should be no less than 400 words.
• Initial responses are to be original in content and demonstrate a thorough analysis of the topic.
• Reply to at least 2 of your classmates in each forum by 11:55pm, ET, Sunday.
• Replies to classmates should be no less than 200 words.
• Responses to classmates are significant to advance the forum.
• All forums can be accessed in the Forums section of the course.

Play Therapy: The Art of the Relationship, 3rd edition, by Gary L. Landreth, Routledge Publishing, 2012

The Handbook of Child Life: A Guide for Pediatric Psychosocial Care, edited by Richard H. Thompson, Charles C. Thomas Publishing, 2009