Hearts Connected LLC

Travel this summer can be exciting for families, but for many children, flying on an airplane can be a big stressor.

The unfamiliar sounds, busy airports, long waits, turbulence, and being away from their usual routines can feel overwhelming. This summer, try encouraging children to choose items to help them with travel.

Have them choose items to fill their own backpack🎒:
🧸Comfort Items: stuffed animal, neck pillow or a blanket
🧩Games: uno, cards, iSpy, and other travel sized games!
🖍️Activities: sticker scenes, coloring, reading books, crossword puzzles, activity books
📱Electronic: iPad, headphones, Nook,
🎧Sensory: noise canceling headphones, fidget spinner, stress ball
✈️ Take off/Landing helpers: chew tubes, gum, snacks, pacifiers

Allowing children to choose items to comfort them during moments they may feel scared can help reduce their anxiety.

What helps your child feel comfortable while traveling? ✈️🌎

What helps your child feel more comfortable when traveling? Share your tips below! 👇✈️

🌟 Meet a Member Monday 🌟
💖The Hearts Connected Affiliate Network Directory for community based child life specialists is growing!

👋🏽Say hello to Corry Cande, a Certified Child Life Specialist and founder of Corry Cande, LLC based in St. Louis, MO!

🏢Practice Details:
In-Person in St. Louis, MO Area
Virtual

📌Expertise
Sibling Support
Children of Adult Patients
Coping Strategies & Stress Management
Emotional Regulation
Social Emotional Learning and Healthy Communication Skills
Diagnosis Education
Procedural Preparation
Bereavement Support
Providing age appropriate diagnosis teaching, surgical and procedural preparation and bereavement support
Creating access to care in the community - partnering with local non profit organizations and school re-entry

Details on HCAN Director for Community Based CCLS in Bio!


counseling

This Father’s Day, remember that not every dad’s journey looks the same. 💙

Whether he’s parenting at the bedside, grieving, waiting, missing, hoping, or healing—sometimes the most meaningful gift is simply knowing what to say.

A few thoughtful words can help a dad feel seen!

Tag a father figure you're thankful for!

Following the overwhelming response to our last Scope of Practice webinar, one thing became clear: our community is hungry for continued conversation, practical tools, and opportunities to think critically through the increasingly complex situations we face every day. In this interactive follow-up session, we will build upon the discussions from Part 1 by re-introducing our practical framework for assessing scope, reviewing additional real-world scenarios submitted by child life specialists across the country, and exploring how clinicians can create ongoing opportunities for scope consultation and professional reflection within their own organizations.

Through live polling, guided discussion, and collaborative case review, participants will practice applying a structured decision-making process to scenarios involving behavioral health, grief, interdisciplinary overlap, developmental support, family dynamics, community-based practice, and more.

Rather than focusing on "in scope" or "out of scope" answers, this webinar will explore HOW child life specialists can use our framework guide, clinical judgment, collaboration, and professional boundaries to navigate complex situations with greater confidence and clarity.

Learning Objectives
1. Apply our practical framework for assessing scope of practice to real submitted scenarios
2. Identify common indicators that a situation may be approaching or extending beyond child life scope
3. Analyze real-world scenarios through collaborative discussion and clinical reasoning
4. Differentiate between patient need, system gaps, and professional responsibility
5. Develop strategies for fostering ongoing scope consultation and discussion within their organization

To register for this webinar, go to www.heartsconnected.org/event

See you there!! 🤗

Ever looked at your child's behavior and wondered, "Am I doing something wrong?" The truth is, many behaviors that get labeled as "bad parenting" are actually signs that a child is struggling with regulation, transitions, fatigue, or big emotions.

Behavior is communication. Before assuming a child is being difficult, or that a parent is failing, sometimes the most challenging behaviors are actually signals that a child needs support, connection, or help regulating their nervous system. ❤️

Save this post for the next time you're tempted to judge yourself (or another parent) based on a single moment.

If parenting feels harder than it did for your parents, you’re not imagining it. We’re not parenting less capable kids. We’re parenting in a more emotionally complex world.

A lot of us are now expected to do something previous generations didn’t have to do as much of:
Translate behavior instead of just correcting it.

So now every moment comes with mental questions like:
⭐️ Is this defiance or overwhelm?
⭐️ Is this attitude or dysregulation?
⭐️ What is my child actually trying to communicate?

That constant interpretation is exhausting. You’re not doing too much. You’re doing more emotional work than parenting used to require.

If your child’s behavior feels confusing or hard to decode, we offer free consults to help you understand what’s going on beneath the surface and how to respond with more clarity and confidence.

🌟 Meet a Member Monday 🌟
💖The Hearts Connected Affiliate Network Directory for community based child life specialists is growing!

👋🏽Say hello to Shannon Meland & Sam Schackman, Certified Child Life Specialists and co-founders of Empowered Kids based in Minneapolis, Minnesota!

🏢Practice Details:
In person-Twin Cities & surrounding suburbs
Virtual services within Minnesota

📌Expertise
-Education, Preparation and Processing-illness, medical diagnosis, and hospital experiences
-Coping Techniques - anxiety associated to medical experiences
-Grief and Loss -life limiting diagnosis, anticipated death of a loved one and post-death support
-Children of Adult Patients–Support for children who have a caregiver with a medical diagnosis
-Education of Adults–Consulting on pediatric best practice, and continuing education

Details on HCAN Director for Community Based CCLS in Bio!


counseling

Forget fan girling over cute couples and hockey players. The real MVP wasn’t on the ice, she was on FaceTime🏒🥅

Sometimes the best fictional role models are the adults who quietly show up, and Hannah’s mother did just that.

She validated her emotions, listened without judging her, and created a space for her daughter to share what she was going through❤️‍🩹

Healing doesn’t always come from having the perfect words. Sometimes it comes from being the person who says, “I’m here, and I believe you.”

Who was your favorite Off Campus character and why?