This course is designed as an introductory class to familiarize students to the psychosocial needs of children, adolescents and families facing health care challenges. Topics to be covered include: the review of the official documents of the Association of Child Life Professionals, the scope of child life practice, the impact of illness, injury and healthcare needs on typical child development and the family, family-centered care, the value of therapeutic play, activities, and interventions, and an introduction to medical play and procedural preparation. Students will gain an understanding of the child life specialist's role in providing support and education to the hospitalized child, medical clinic patient, and those with special health care needs in community-based practice. This course meets the ACLP’s eligibility to sit for the Child Life Professional Certification Exam.

          Read my final term paper on expressive art therapies in pediatric hospitals

This course identifies important concepts and skills for child life specialist practice in medical, healthcare, and community settings. The course content will present practical and professional topics including the impact of illness and hospitalization on child development, family coping strategies, therapeutic interactions, creative activities and medical play, end of life support, and interdisciplinary consultation and communication. Students will gain an understanding of the theories and concepts underlying practices, the necessary and important day-to-day interventions in hospital, medical, and community-based settings, and strategies for successful collaborations with families and medical professionals.

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This course is designed to provide an introduction to play therapy with a focus on understanding theoretical approaches and specific skills and techniques for play therapy. These skills can be used to work with children and their families in the developmentally appropriate setting of play. Students will develop helping skills using play therapy as a means of communication, understanding, and intervention. Of primary importance will be the application of theoretical information to clinical practice through discussion and experiential activities.

This course focuses on the study of death and dying as well as the value of human life.  Students will examine theories and concepts of death education and demonstrate the ability to accurately apply them to grief and coping.  In addition, cultural and religious perspectives will be discussed. Particular emphasis will be given to strategies for working with children and adolescents as well as those who are terminally ill. These strategies include coping and preparation for the funeral, burial, and end of life-process. Students will also be encouraged to share their own experiences with death, dying and coping.

This course is designed to give beginning graduate students an understanding of children’s needs, functioning, care, and developmental changes from infancy to the early school years embedded in both contemporary research and practical applications. Content is focused on patterns of development, individual and contextual differences, influences on development, and developmentally and culturally appropriate practices. Readings include reviews of research, discussion of practical implications, and guidelines for implementing developmentally appropriate practices in early childhood settings. Course assignments integrate course content with research, practitioner, and policy applications.

          Read my final term paper on the impact of deafness on language and literacy development

This course is intended to support our understanding of development for young people from ages 8 – 18. We explore ways that culture, biology, and phenomenology influence developmental pathways that affect individual and group outcomes into and through adolescence. Adults are co-constructors of adolescence; such a lens supports the need for an applied understanding of development. With that purview, we use a case-approach to ground our understandings of the diversity of experiences young people encounter as they navigate adolescence. How do we support the optimal development for young people and in what ways do various contexts influence developmental processes? The course explores physical, cognitive, and socioemotional development. Emphasis is placed on the development of identity and the various identities that inform one’s knowledge of self. Importantly, our course also centers positive youth development (PYD) theories and the importance of critical consciousness as central to youth purpose and a successful

transition into adulthood.

         Read my reflection on my own identity development during adolescence

Members of the health care team need to be able to recognize, understand, and use (in verbal and written communications) the terminology of the medical profession. As in learning any new language, it will be necessary to commit to memory those terms most frequently used. This can be facilitated by identifying the basic elements of word construction and committing to memory the meanings of the specific word elements for word analysis. This course is designed to introduce students to the fundamentals of medical terminology. It includes word structure of basic medical and surgical terms and procedures, body parts and organs, selected medical specialties, body systems, and commonly used medical abbreviations and symbols.

This course will provide an introduction and overview of Infant Mental Health (IMH). Core theoretical concepts related to the practice of IMH will be examined. Emphasis will be placed on understanding how IMH principles provide a foundation for working with infants, toddlers, and families across cultural, setting, and discipline contexts.

This course will provide an introduction and overview of Infant Mental Health (IMH) intervention approaches. Core theoretical concepts related to the practice of IMH in real-world settings and across systems and contexts will be examined. Emphasis will be placed on understanding promotion, prevention and intervention approaches for very young children and their caregivers across cultural, setting, and discipline contexts

The course content will help prepare graduate students as emerging professionals and future leaders to orchestrate team assessments and to choose and use observation-based assessments appropriately for diverse purposes.  The underlying theme of the course is Linking Authentic Assessment & Early Childhood Intervention. Students will engage in an in-depth exploration of “best practices” in the Authentic Assessment of childrens’ development (infancy to adolescence) which are linked to the purposes, content, quality, and impact of programs, services, and interventions that are applied to them and to their families.  These best practices are both professionally sanctioned by the major national early childhood and school-age professional organizations and many also have practice-based evidence that supports their use.  Thus, this course will help students to understand, select, and use various authentic assessment strategies which link to intervention for children at developmental risk and with disabilities and associated social-behavioral and chronic health conditions.

This course introduces you to a profile of the diverse field of Applied Developmental Psychology (ADP) as both developmental science and professional practice. ADP embraces “positive psychology” (assets vs deficits) approaches which can most effectively help children, youth, families, and their professional caregivers. Students will gain general knowledge of the ADP field and its focal issues through various means: reading/debating diverse articles on the distinguishing features and examples of ADP in action; learning about the systemic and innovative applied practices in our community. Readings, team activities, presentations, and individual productions will focus on the essential philosophical underpinnings and practices of ADP: Leadership competencies; professional standards and practices; ethics; policy and advocacy; evidence-based practices; program evaluation; and community-university partnerships. Students will be asked to frame their own professional career path based upon ADP principles. One of the main tenets of the ADP program within the Department of Health & Human Development (HHD) of the School of Education at the University of Pittsburgh is that master’s students will strive to become “Applied Developmental Psychologists 1st” as their main aspiration with a choice of secondary specializations in such areas as Children with Special Healthcare Needs (child life). The professional “psychology identity” of ADP influences, fundamentally, how one will practice in their specialization.

          Read my professional roadmap to child life