Thanks to support from Woolworths through the Good Friday Appeal, children and young people at The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) are supported by a team of dedicated Child Life Therapists through the Child Life Therapy Program. 

Child Life Therapy plays a crucial role in paediatric healthcare by helping children and their families navigate the emotional and psychosocial challenges associated with illness, hospitalisation, and medical procedures.

Specially trained Child Life Therapists provide psychosocial support through evidence-based, trauma-informed, and developmentally appropriate interventions. They use therapeutic play, emotional support, and education to reduce anxiety, build coping strategies, and promote a sense of normalcy for children and their families. This specialised care enhances overall well-being, helps children express their feelings, and can even improve recovery outcomes.  

“Child Life Therapy is all about supporting children and families who are facing illness, hospitalisation, and the anxiety that often follows. We provide psychosocial support through evidence-based, trauma-informed, and developmentally appropriate interventions. Our goal is to help children understand their experiences, manage stress, and express their emotions in healthy and helpful ways.” 

Carlie Alicastro, Child Life Therapist and Host, RCH TV.   

The Child Life Therapy team, in conjunction with the RCH TV Team, develop peer modelled preparation videos for patients so they can better understand things around the hospital. Examples include A child’s guide to nebulisers, and Let’s Learn About… lead aprons. These videos are widely viewed by the community on the hospital’s website and YouTube channel.   

The Child Life Therapy team also run a dedicated Mock MRI Clinic which gives patients an opportunity to learn about what an MRI is, and to experience a simulated MRI prior to their booking.  The clinic empowers children to achieve an awake MRI, without general anaesthetic, which frees up the anaesthetists for the most vulnerable patients.  

The Child Life Therapy Program reduces anxiety and hospital related trauma in children, prevents the need for more complex medical interventions and leads to a more positive hospital experience overall.

Carlie provided this story about a patient:

“I want to share with you a story about a very special child I worked with earlier this year. Her name is N. N is four years old, and when I first met her, she was absolutely terrified. She was facing a procedure called lymphoscintigraphy — a type of imaging where she would need to lie still for an extended period, with the added anxiety of a needle in the webbing of her toes. Ouch right!?   

When I entered N’s room, I found her curled up in bed, her face streaked with tears. She was repeating, ‘I’m scared,’ over and over. My heart broke for her. But I knew that I could be with her — I could sit beside her. I could listen to her fears. I could help.    

Together, we spent the next two hours navigating her fear. I provided step-by-step guidance, gave her time to process it at her own pace, and offered comfort with the soft hum of her favorite show, Bluey, playing on an iPad. But most importantly, I was present — not just in the room, but with her in her fear, with her in her pain.   

I left that day wondering: ‘could I have done more to ease her distress?’ A few days later, N surprised me. She came running up to me, excited to see me, proudly talking about how she’d won a prize from our Hospital Lingo TV show. I had no idea she would remember me with such joy after such a tough experience. And in that moment, I realised that it wasn’t about making the fear go away; it was about showing N that she wasn’t alone in it.   

I was with N in her pain, with her in her fear, and it allowed her to feel safe and empowered, even in one of her toughest moments.  ”

Approximately 500 Child Life Therapy sessions are provided per month across the RCH. 

Impact Milestones

2021/2022

• Over 1,200 outpatient procedures were supported by the Child Life Therapy Program across Burns, Plastic, Orthopaedics, Pathology and nurse led clinics.   
• Over 700 cardiac outpatients were supported by Child Life Therapists in specialist clinics, including pathology and medical imaging.   
• Cardiac patients were identified by the Child Life Therapy team as a patient cohort who often arrived for planned surgery with high anxiety and medical related trauma. Early support by the Child Life Therapy team via outpatient clinics reduced patient distress and led to improved experiences, once patients were admitted for surgery.  
• Child Life Therapists performed 493 Mock MRIs. Of these patients, approximately 11 per cent went on to need a general anaesthetic for their real MRI.   

2022/2023

• 1,311 patients were supported by the Child Life Therapy Program across the Medical Imaging Department.    

2023/2024

• Child Life Therapists performed 666 Mock MRI’s. Of these 590 went on to try an awake MRI.  
• 89 per cent of children who had Mock MRI went on to have an MRI.