Emily Bollinger

Emily Bollinger, MA, CCLS is the Child Life Clinical Instructor in the department of Family Sciences. She has a bachelor’s from the University of Rochester and a master’s from the University of Missouri. She’s been teaching at the undergraduate level since 2010 including courses in child development, family systems, identity and sexuality, supporting hospitalized children, therapeutic play, and providing academic supervision to students completing their clinical practicums and internships.

In addition to teaching, she has worked as a clinical Child Life Specialist in a variety of units throughout pediatric healthcare systems including inpatient, emergency room, a vaccine research trial, and specialty clinics. She has also developed and provided training for other medical staff to implement standardized comfort measures, increase knowledge of child development, and improve understanding and support of pediatric patients with atypical sensory responses and needs.

Her engagement with the professional organization for this career (the Association for Child Life Professionals) has included serving on committees and presenting at the national conference.

She volunteers some of her time outside of her campus role to an international non-profit organization where her work has focused on developing two developmentally supportive preschool programs for highly vulnerable children in Cambodia.

Her expertise includes child development, stress responses and coping, atypical support needs, pediatric trauma awareness and resilience, family systems, and student development.