Meet Alyssa Pettingill | Child Life Specialist & Founder of EmpoweringKidz

We had the good fortune of connecting with Alyssa Pettingill and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Alyssa, how does your business help the community?

EmpoweringKidz serves and supports the young children and teens of this world. I help young individuals develop the coping skills they need to successfully navigate and overcome difficult medical challenges and life events. Some examples include navigating a new acute or chronic illness, processing the death of a loved one, or undergoing a difficult transition such as a parent’s divorce.

When children develop these skills early on, their resiliency improves.  Therefore, they have the ability to cope with emotionally impactful events in the future. 

EmpoweringKidz provides in-home services to children and teens ages 0-18 years and Telehealth services to those living outside of the San Diego area.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?

I started EmpoweringKidz because I realized there was a large gap in the emotional support families were receiving in the hospital versus when they went home. Some families would learn all about a new diagnosis from the medical team, go home, start to process, and then have so many questions or concerns. It wouldn’t be until their next appointment-sometimes months later-that they would be able to talk to a Child Life Specialist about the misconceptions their child was having, the compliance issues with treatment, etc. Other families would be staying in the hospital for months at a time for treatment but each time they went home, they didn’t have a go-to person to call if their child was struggling to cope with their illness, their transition back to school, etc. As a result, I knew there was need for in-home Child Life services.

EmpoweringKidz serves as an extension of Child Life services that some families are able to receive in pediatric hospitals while also being an accessible service to any family unit navigating some type of medical challenge or difficult life event. This could be anything from needle phobia, food allergies, a caregiver with a chronic illness, or a child experiencing grief and loss for the first time. When a clinician such as myself is able to involved early on, I can educate, or prepare the child or teen for what is coming next or help them process what has already happened.

What separates a Child Life Specialist from other mental health providers is our knowledge and understanding of the pediatric patient experience and our interventions. As a health care professional with a child development knowledge base, I individualize each session using various books, self expressive activities, and forms of play.  For example, I have books on grief and various illnesses, and I use medical themed play to help children understand certain aspects of their care.  These interventions are therapeutic in nature and are the most suitable tools in helping children learn new skills as these activities appeal to them. Play is a child’s work, after all!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?

San Diego is the perfect place for a getaway filled with amazing food and fun things to do. If I have a friend in town visiting, one of our first stops is always the beach! I love the beaches in La Jolla and Coronado Island is great if we’re looking to walk around and hit the beach.

In terms of activities, my personal favorites are taking a beachfront yoga class (Check Out Namasteve on IG :)) and renting some beach cruisers and taking them for a nice ride along Pacific Beach up to La Jolla. I also think the hiking trails are great in San Diego-Iron Mountain, Torrey Pines, and one of the many Mission Gorge hikes are all nice and don’t take the whole day to do! 

Since food is my love language, I always make sure my visitors are eating well on their trip. Here are some fan favorites:

Bronx Pizza-best slice pizza (Hillcrest)
Kabob Shop-you have to get the lamb donor kebab with fries inside (various locations)
Trust-eggcellent brunch & their morning cinnamon rolls are heavenly! (North Park)
Taco Stand & Oscar’s-great go-to’s for tacos & burritos! (various locations)
Cucina Urbana-cute Italian spot right by the beautiful Balboa Park with a great wine list (Banker’s Hill)
Barbusa-great dinner spot for a fun, lively night in Little Italy (Little Italy, Downtown)

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?

A big shoutout goes to my mom, Grace Pettingill. She actually introduced me to the Child Life profession when I was just a junior in college. I was completing my degree in Child and Family Development at SDSU when I remember her calling me up to share about this new profession she had heard of. Because she knew my skills and interests so well (she is my mom after all), she encouraged me to pursue the profession that ended up becoming my passion.

Later, when I told her and my dad of my plan to open my own private practice (EmpoweringKidz), she didn’t hesitate in supporting me. I know the realist/parent side of her was a bit concerned about how I would make ends meet financially at the beginning but nothing else seemed to question her faith in that I could be successful.

As a new business owner, I’ve needed someone to bounce ideas off of at times. I also have benefitted from hearing a different perspective as I’ve worked to spread awareness around a profession and business that has multiple target audiences (i.e. parents, doctors, mental health professionals, schools). My mom has been my go-to for all that. She is my editor, my cheerleader, my listener, my motivator. She does it all, and for that, I’m so thankful!

Website: https://www.empoweringkidz.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/empoweringkidzsd/?next=%2F

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/empoweringkidz-llc/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086960855971