Child Mental Health and Wellness...
Offering on-line sessions to help YOU help YOUR child!
01/20/2026
Growing where the waves hit hardest🌊✨
Proof that growth takes time. It isn’t instant... It’s quiet, patient, and often invisible until you pause and look back. This 2016 mom had no idea how much growth was ahead for her and her children. Here’s to thanking the child life specialists everywhere who have been teaching parents these important techniques (...for way more than 10 years!)
How have you changed your support with your kids from 10 years ago?
#2016
01/20/2026
Growing where the waves hit hardest🌊✨
Proof that growth takes time. It isn't instant... It's quiet, patient, and often invisible until you pause and look back. This 2016 mom had no idea how much growth was ahead for her and her children. Here's to thanking the child life specialists everywhere who have been teaching parents these important techniques (...for way more than 10 years!)
How have you changed your support with your kids from 10 years ago?
#2016
01/19/2026
📚Bibliotherapy and Child Life have always gone hand in hand! The Certified Child Life Specialists (CCLS) in our HCAN Directory have incredible book resource recommendations!
☀️Kelsey Mora of Kelsey Mora, PLLC has written and published an amazing resource for help children grow in their understanding and coping with a cancer diagnosis.
➡️See “Therapeutic Book Recommendations” in our bio for how to get your hands on this amazing bibliotherapy resource!
01/17/2026
Cold air. Warm coats. Side-by-side steps.
Your child has spent the whole day sitting, listening, following rules, and holding it together. By the time they get home, their body finally lets go — sometimes through tears, yelling, or fussiness.
Sometimes, 10 minutes like this is all it takes to shift the day for both of you by helping them release stress, regulate their nervous system, and reconnect with you.
No pressure. No lessons. No talking required. Just presence.
Try it and let us know how it goes!
01/16/2026
🎉 We have officially revamped Students Connected — and this new platform was built with YOU in mind.
Here’s what’s now available:
📚 Internship Application Prep – Library Access
Perfect for students who want structured, self-paced support, and are comfortable going through the application process independently. You’ll get access to our premium version of the Clinical Sites List and our curated internship application resources, templates, examples, and guides.
🧠 Internship Application Prep Library Access + Live Support
This is our most supportive option for internship applicants! Includes full library access plus weekly LIVE lectures and group sessions, email access to the CCLS instructor, and discounted 1:1 support services.
📝 Child Life Certification Exam Prep – Library Access
Designed for students who want flexible, self-paced exam preparation. Best for those who feel confident going into the exam, but need a little extra study support. You’ll receive foundational exam prep presentation slides and study guides.
✅ Child Life Exam Prep + Live Support
For students who need accountability, clarity, and confidence heading into the exam. Best for students who have taken the exam 0-2 times. Includes full exam prep library access plus weekly LIVE sessions focused on content review, test-taking strategies, questions, and support from both experts and peers.
Our 1:1 student support services are also still available!! These include a mock interview, resume review, application essay review, and mentoring support.
💛 Why we revamped Students Connected:
We heard from so many students that they wanted high-quality support that was also financially accessible. This revamp was intentionally designed to offer more cost-effective pathways, while still providing expert guidance, structure, and meaningful connection.
Our live courses are taught in a group lecture format, allowing students to learn together, ask questions in real time, and benefit from shared experiences at a significantly lower cost than our 1:1 services. This model lets us keep support accessible without sacrificing depth, quality, or clinical expertise.
Students can now choose between 1:1 support, self-paced libraries, or library access + live group support, depending on their learning style, timeline, and budget.
We would be honored to be a part of helping you succeed! 💫
Meet our Certified Child Life Specialists and their favorite tools to support children during procedures! Distraction bags are a collection of toys, sensory items, and distraction tools. They are used by child life specialists on-the-go to help children cope with medical experiences, such as an IV placement, blood draw, or dressing change.
Parents, you can create your own distraction bag for your child that can be used for vaccinations, doctor visits, etc!
Vote which distraction bag is your favorite in the comments!
01/14/2026
Our 2026 vision board!✨
Here's what we look forward to in the new year!
-More therapeutic play sessions: Hearts Connected is here to help more children cope, grieve, and heal this year!
-Reaching more families: Our team wants to reach more children facing difficult situations and stressful life transitions.
-Building our student services: Get ready for our launch of new student services...coming soon!
-Growing connections: We are excited to grow our current partnerships and build new ones in 2026!
Be sure to book your free 15-minute session to find support for you and your child's needs!
Share what is on your vision board for the new year in the comments below!
virtualtheraputicservices familysupport
01/12/2026
🌟 Meet a Member Monday 🌟
💖The Hearts Connected Affiliate Network Directory for community based child life specialists is growing!
👋🏽Say hello to Nicole Romanelli, a Certified Child Life Specialist and founder of The Power of Play based in Suffield, Connecticut. Serving her local community in Corthern CT & Western MA!
🏢Practice Details:
In Home
Local Virtual
Parent & Caregiver Sessions
Community Workshops
📌Expertise
Diagnosis education and processing
End of life and grief Support
Sibling support
Surgical/procedural preparation and education
Adaptive expressive art activities for emotional processing and expression
Details on HCAN Directory for Community Based CCLS in Bio!
01/09/2026
January asks a lot of us.
Dark mornings.
Long school days after a fun break.
Less sunshine and less movement.
Cold weather and flu season.
More expectations.
If everything feels harder this month, it’s not you.
It's January.
💛 Send this to a mom who needs the reminder.
#2026
01/08/2026
This month we are excited to welcome Kate Kostolansky, a mom, advocate, and Founder of Brave Bears Club! Kate lives with her husband and two children — Charlotte and Theodore. When Charlotte was diagnosed with Infantile Spasms, Kate quickly realized how isolating, confusing, and overwhelming a rare epilepsy diagnosis can be. Determined to shed light on this condition and create resources that didn’t exist for her own family, she leaned into her “mama bear” instincts. What began as one mother’s late-night notes has grown into a movement helping families across the country feel less alone.
Objectives:
1. Discuss comfort and coping measures from a parent's perspective.
2. Provide child life professionals with insight into their role from a parent's perspective.
3. Share details about Brave Bears Club and how your hospital or practice can get involved!
This webinar will be recorded. If you are not able to attend live, you will be required to complete a post-quiz after watching the recording in order to earn a certificate. You must be registered to receive the recording.
Thank you to our sponsor,
01/07/2026
“She did it!!!!" 🎉💪💉
Not because it was easy.
Not because the fear disappeared.
But because she had support, preparation, and coping tools!
This proud-parent moment is a powerful reminder: success isn’t about zero tears or perfect bravery. It’s about coping. It’s about helping a child feel supported while they face something hard, like a vaccination, a medical visit, or death of a loved one.
That’s where child life specialists come in.
We can’t promise perfection or tear-free experiences, but we are experts in helping kids cope with hard things. We help children understand what’s happening, build confidence, and take brave steps forward, even when it’s uncomfortable.
Because coping skills learned in moments like these don’t just help today — they support kids for life!
✨ If your child is facing something hard, you don’t have to do it alone.
Follow along, share this with another parent, or reach out to learn how Child Life support can help your child cope with hard things like needle fear, grief, a new diagnosis, divorce, and other challenges.
01/05/2026
We are thrilled to introduce you to our second new Child Life Social Media and Community Outreach Intern, Brianna Fernandez!
Brianna is an aspiring Certified Child Life Specialist. She graduated from Nova Southeastern University with a Bachelor's Degree in Child Development. She has worked as a Child Life Assistant for 1.5 years and also worked as the hospital prom coordinator. She is excited to intern at Hearts Connected because she is passionate about supporting patients and families facing medical situations.
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Our Mission
Hearts Connected exists to meet the unique needs of children, teens and families facing difficult situations and stressful life transitions using therapeutic play, coping interventions and supportive resources.
Our Vision
Where is is recognized that children and teens have unique needs and will have the capacity to effectively cope through difficult situations.
To:
- Serve children of all ages.
- Provide services tailored to each child and their best interest with our unique skill set
- Maintain objectivity, integrity and confidentiality
- Seek knowledge and skills for excellence
Hearts Connected, LLC was founded by DD Fritch. She is a pediatric nurse of over 30 years and mom of three. While she is now a healthcare leader and consultant, she was at the bedside for many years where she personally witnessed the impact that Child Life Specialist played on both the child and the child’s loved ones while they were facing situations during their medical care that was hard to understand.
She, along with Molly have a deep desire to bring the services that typically are only available to patients in pediatric hospitals to families while they are in their community. Connecting Child Life Specialist all over the United States with parents, caregivers, family members and most importantly, the children they love!
Providing services to help children cope, grieve and heal.
