Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Davis.
Hi Sarah, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Sure! My name is Sarah Davis and I’m a child life specialist in San Antonio supporting families who need help navigating stressful life events. Many people ask me where my interest in supporting families comes from. While I was a teenager I experienced an intense 3 year battle with my health. During that time, I realized that so many children and teens (myself included) weren’t being adequately prepared to cope with major life changes such as illness, disease, divorce, natural disasters, and death. Not only that, but if adults didn’t see the life change as catastrophic, the child or teen was much less likely to receive the appropriate support.
This led me to pursue the certification of a child life specialist (CCLS) and allowed me to work with children, teens, and their families who were the most vulnerable but didn’t receive the education and support they required. After working in a Children’s Hospital for over 6 years and making huge impacts on the lives of patients and families, I was ready to start working with families who aren’t getting child life services because they aren’t hospitalized.
In the spring of 2021, I officially opened my child life private practice “Thriving Play” and began working with families whose children and teens were working through a variety of different stressors. It was clear from the beginning that there are so many families who are struggling with life’s curveballs, but don’t qualify for a mental health diagnosis or their support system isn’t prepared to help them navigate their rights. The families I work with are taught how to analyze what is working well and what needs tweaking, Then I help them understand what is in their control and how to advocate for their own needs. Finally, we work together to create a system that supports the family’s unique needs.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It definitely has not been smooth. The pandemic has made it very difficult to use the normal ways of marketing. Additionally, it’s hard to convince families to prioritize their mental and emotional health. This makes sense because there is a huge push to be seen as “normal” meaning that you are always busy with school, work, and extracurricular activities. Finally, many families are still looking for an “instant” solution, such as a pill, or have someone else “fix” the problem, by only working on it once a week during an hour-long session. The families that have been the most successful are the ones who work on developing and implementing their support system daily.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Thriving Play?
Thriving Play is a Child Life Private Practice that provides child life services in person here in San Antonio, as well as televisits to families who live outside of San Antonio. Our focus is to help children and families feel confident, even in the face of major life stressors, because they have the tools to regulate and advocate for themselves.
Our specialty is working with families who have a child with an invisible disease, such as Arthritis, Lupus, Sickle Cell, or Diabetes. We help children and teens of all ages understand what is happening in the body, and prepare them for any medical encounter. With preparation comes coping skills and pain management techniques, for both the child and the caregiver(s). Finally, we teach families how to advocate for their health needs both in the medical environment as well as the school setting.
While our specialty is invisible diseases, we also work with children and teens who have visible diseases such as cancer or Muscular Dystrophy, Another group are children and teens who are well, but have anxiety or fear towards a medical experience, like getting a cavity filled. If the stressor is medical-related, we can help kids and teens navigate it. Not only that, but we work with children of all ages, from birth to 21 years of age. Even premature infants can benefit from our assistance, either by receiving developmentally-appropriate interventions, or training caregivers how to interact with them to promote positive health and wellness.
The wonderful thing about child life is that it isn’t limited to the medical world. At Thriving Play, a large percentage of our families are receiving services that focus on emotional regulation. Perhaps a child has separation anxiety and is struggling at school, or the child is trying to find better ways to regulate feelings of anger and frustration. Some are coping with a recent divorce or death in the family, or need assistance with goal setting and focus strategies. Sometimes the caregiver is the one who is needing parenting education.
Finally, we recognize that we can’t meet the needs of every family in San Antonio, so we also offer trainings to schools, physician offices, and other places that serve children. Some of our trainings focus on how to deescalate a child, or how to recognize a stress response and respond appropriately. Other trainings teach how to talk to kids so they feel seen and heard, or how to utilize physical connection to calm a child.
We are different from other similar types of services because of our whole-picture assessment of the family. We consider the history, as well as normal developmental milestones a child should be hitting. We combine what the child is capable of at that moment with the current stressors he or she is experiencing, even if it’s indirect. While others might only consider a part of the puzzle, like grades, or positive health behaviors, we take a global view and consider all factors. We also recognize that there is not a “one-size fits all”, and we work closely with each family to craft a unique plan that is not filled with extra work that feels daunting.
We are most proud of our ability to make individualized family plans, and that families don’t feel like it’s extra work, but just changing simple habits. Because it’s so individualized, families know that they are receiving quality support that’s just for them.
What’s next?
Right now, we hope to offer more trainings for organizations that work with kids and teens. The more adults that are equipped with the current knowledge of child development and stress/coping skills, the better equipped our children will be to thrive.
Pricing:
- We offer a free 15-minute consultation to families
- A normal child life session which lasts about an hour is $60
Contact Info:
- Email: hello@thrivingplay.com
- Website: www.thrivingplay.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/thrivingplay
- Facebook: facebook.com/thrivingplay
- Youtube: youtube.com/thrivingplay
Image Credits
Jocelyn Horne
