Basic is Best: An Interview With Lyndsay Overton
As a Certified Child Life Specialist, Lyndsay Overton is preparing, supporting, and distracting children of all ages during their hospital stay while also assisting their families in any way she can. Over the past two years, she has witnessed a rise in children’s mental health needs. With the lack of staffing, attending their needs has been challenging. In this podcast, she addresses simple strategies such as coloring, journaling, writing letters to family members, and adding comfort to the hospital stay through blankets and stuffed animals. Lyndsay says, “Coping skills are lacking immensely,” and she suggests to offering emotional outlets for young children to express themselves as well as validating their feelings. While encouraging the pandemials to be anything they want to be in their lives, she reminds parents to take good care of themselves and and assures them they are not alone.
Resources
- Sesame Street and Autism. (n.d.). Coping with COVID-19: A “for-now” normal. https://autism.sesamestreet.org/coping-with-covid/
- St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. (n.d.). Learn about coronavirus and COVID-19 [Activity Book]. https://www.stjude.org/content/dam/en_US/shared/www/fundraising-programs/youth/educators-newsletters/activity-sheets/april-2020/coronavirus-activity-book.pdf
- St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. (n.d.). Learn about the coronavirus [Coloring Book]. https://together.stjude.org/content/dam/together/en-us/covid-19/coronavirus-coloring-book-together.pdf
About the Interviewee
Lyndsay Overton, CCLS, has worked at Norton Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky for the past five years. Addressing children’s developmental and mental health needs through simple strategies accessible to everyone is her passion. Her work also includes supporting parents, who are essential to children’s healthy development. Contact: lyndsay.overton@nortonhealthcare.org
Suggested Citation
Ruffner, A. (2022, September 1). Basic is best: An interview with Lyndsay Overton [Audio podcast]. imagine. www.imagine.musictherapy.biz