When I first joined the instagram world, I had no idea how much I would use it for professional purposes. The sheer amount of pages dedicated to the child life profession, play, parenting, and education is astounding.
So how do we sift through all of these? Personally, I have two separate instagram accounts. One is personal and one is, well, to connect with all of you and share resources. The great thing about that is I can take breaks from the professional account. I typically tend to avoid it on the weekends so that I can fully remove myself from “work”. But this also highlights one of the challenges, creating a boundary between work and your personal life. It’s something that you should take into consideration.
As a student, you want to immerse yourself and soak up all the information you can. But, this can also lead to a lack of boundaries and a potential for burnout before you’ve truly entered the profession. I encourage you to recognize those two spaces and create your own rules for social media usage.
5 Instagram accounts I find helpful and why:
- @childlifeoncall: Because it’s basically the best….no but really, Katie shares therapeutic activities, resources for caregivers, new podcast episodes, a little humor, and a lot of support for anyone in the medical field.
- @childlifemommy: Shani works in private practice. She shares books, activities, and a glimpse into her world as a private practice child life specialist.
- @biglittlefeelings: This instagram is meant for anyone who works with young children. They highlight some of the challenges of working with children who are discovering their emotions and how to handle them. They provide some great phrases and ideas of how to help children express themselves.
- @kidsgriefsupport: This child life specialist shares so many great resources surrounding grief work. She shares her personal story with grief, activity ideas, books, etc.
- @assocchildlife: Here they will share meet ups, scholarships, free webinars, and town hall meetings, resources, etc. All of which are great to participate in as a student
5 Podcasts I find helpful and why:
- Child Life on Call: Filled with information! From medical terminology to theory to hearing caregivers speaking candidly about their healthcare experiences this podcast is great for anyone who is entering the world of healthcare.
- Anything with Brene Brown (Dare to Lead, Unlocking Us): Great information and research surrounding vulnerability, leadership, self-care, relationships, all the good stuff you need in your life.
- Child Life Wild Life: You get to hear from child life specialists on a variety of topics from burnout to child life outside of the hospital setting.
- The Rare Life: Hear from parents who have children with “rare” conditions. The host, Effie, was a guest on the child life on call podcast!
- Dear NICU Mama: Stories with parents and experts regarding the NICU experience
One more stop on our list of helpful social media is Facebook. If you are a student with questions, The Child Life Connection: Student Forum is the place for you. Be prepared, it can be overwhelming at first. But, join the group, use the search bar and you will find loads of advice and information!
Check it out! And decide for yourself how you want to utilize social media to your advantage.
