Can I become a Child Life Specialist with a BA in Behavioral Health or Family Studies?
You should check out Child Life Council, they have schools that already offer organized Child Life programs that make it easier to navigate into a career as a CCLS. Any degrees centered around family and child studies, child dev, counseling, etc.will make it possible for you to enter into the field. Most internships want you to be affiliated with a school that has a Child Life program already in place or is at least familiar with the field, usually to make sure you have an academic advisor to see you through the internship. Behavioral Health is specifically designed for people interested in working with people who have behavioral problems…this is definately not related to Child Life. CCLS’s do not have the certificate or the license to work in a mental health setting. However, you can work as a Caseworker or a Behavioral Assistant if you decided to go into a different modality working with children and families ( I have done this as well and it is a good field too). But check out Chi
