Child Life and Music Therapy Training Opportunities
Child Life Student Programs
Child life professionals have a profound impact not only on children facing loss, illness, or injury, but also on the family unit. Through specialized training and expertise, they help children and caregivers better understand medical conditions, ease anxiety, and develop coping skills during some of life’s most challenging events.
They use a variety of approaches, such as diagnosis-specific education, medical play, psychological preparation, and therapeutic play, to support children and families as they adjust to unfamiliar environments and situations. By helping children feel more comfortable and fostering trust in the healthcare team, their work plays a vital role in promoting positive coping. It’s a meaningful and deeply rewarding field.
Children’s Health is home to one of the oldest and largest child life programs in Texas, offering diverse opportunities for students interested in this career path. Participants gain a well-rounded learning experience that includes therapeutic play, preparation, and procedural support. download a brochure (pdf) (pdf).
The Child Life Department is dedicated to educating and training future professionals through multiple programs, including workshops, practicums, and internship opportunities. Children’s Health offers two clinical experiences, a practicum/pre-internship experience, and an internship.
Child Life Practicum/Pre-internship
A child life practicum/pre-internship experience provides students with the opportunity to gain insight in the profession and exposure to the skills and techniques required of the field. While mostly observational in nature, hands on learning occurs through play opportunities in playrooms and at a patient’s bedside.
Children’s Health offers two experiences at both the Dallas and Plano campuses. Please note that Dallas and Plano are separate programs and require separate applications.
The child life practicum at Children’s Medical Center Dallas campus is 160 hours. During the spring and fall semesters, the experience occurs two days a week over 10 weeks. For the summer session, it occurs four times a week over a 5-week period. Your clinical supervisor, the student programming committee, and child life specialists will help to instruct and guide you throughout this experience.
The Child Life Practicum at the Children’s Medical Center Plano is a 160-hour experience offered during the spring and fall semesters. The practicum takes place over 10 weeks, with students attending two days per week. Throughout the experience, students receive guidance and instruction from their clinical supervisor, the Student Programming Committee, and Child Life specialists.
Child Life Internship
The 600-hour Child Life Internship at Children's Medical Center Dallas provides a supervised, guided learning experience with children. It has been designed to meet your unique needs and allow you to acquire professional child life skills.
The internship is only offered at the Dallas campus.
The internship is a 15-week, 40 hour a week, full-time unpaid position that is divided into two six-week rotations with orientation, site visit and shadow weeks in between the rotations. Child Life Internships are offered in spring, summer and fall.
Child Life Workshop
If you’d like to learn more about the child life profession, the Southern Association of Child Life Professionals (SACLP) have workshops that provide an exciting opportunity to become familiar with the roles, requirements, and responsibilities of a child life specialist in addition to learning about the preparation you will need to enter this exciting field.
These virtual workshops are designed for students, career changers, and anyone interested in learning about the child life profession and the path to becoming a Certified Child Life Specialist (CCLS). For additional information, please refer to Child Life 101/201 Workshops — Southern Association of Child Life Professionals
Music Therapy Student Programs
Music therapy services are available to help patients and their families cope with the many issues that may be present during a health crisis. Board certified music therapists are specially trained to promote healing and wellness throughout a patient’s hospitalization, and work in collaboration with the treatment team to address the many aspects of care.
Children’s Health offer students who are enrolled in a music therapy university program the opportunity to enhance therapeutic skills in a medical setting. Students will receive specialized training necessary for advancement toward music therapy certification. Students are given opportunities to shadow and co-treat with board certified music therapists, as well as work independently under close supervision. The student’s clinical music therapy supervisors, along with other staff members in the Child Life Department, provide instruction and guidance.
