our story

Children today confront a wide variety of stressful and potentially traumatic events that may overwhelm their natural ability to cope and heal. Difficult or unexpected experiences, such as chronic illness, hospitalization, the death of a loved one, or the aftermath of violent acts or natural disasters are upsetting for everyone involved. Children are particularly vulnerable, and parents or other responsible adults may feel unsure of their ability to help children to successfully understand and manage these experiences. Because children process information from the world around them much differently than adults, they have distinct needs for managing the effects of stress and trauma. Without the assistance of a professional who understands their unique perspective, children of all ages may experience emotions such as fear, shame, confusion and loneliness, which can inhibit their natural development, and have lasting negative effects on their wellbeing.
-Association for Child Life Professionals (ACLP), www.childlife.org

about the founder

Momentos founder, Kia Ferrer, PhD, CCLS, has a passion for treating children with respect and without condescension by providing them with honest information about challenging life events. She approaches these experiences as a series of discrete moments, or momentos in Spanish. Interestingly, "momentos" is also a play on words because in Spanish it means "moments," and in English, it can refer to the pluralized form of "momento," which signifies a keepsake or reminder of a past event. She uses therapeutic art, dramatic play, and developmentally appropriate education to promote healthy interpretations of difficult circumstances through detailed examinations of these pivotal life-moments.

In 2018, Dr. Ferrer founded Momentos in Chicago, Illinois, to fill a need she identified in her work with hospitals, wherein child life services typically stop at discharge. She believes children undergoing medical treatment are entitled to psychosocial support in all the various contexts of their lives. Dr. Ferrer has a particular interest in helping children reintegrate into their schools, homes and communities after experiencing illness, medical trauma, and grief.

Born and bred in Chicago by two public school teachers, Ferrer has over 18 years of experience working in urban early childhood education, in palliative and hospice settings, in private practice, and as a child life specialist at several children’s hospitals in the Chicagoland area.

In addition to her work with Momentos, Ferrer is a PhD in child development from Erikson Institute and Loyola University Chicago’s School of Education. She authored Drawing the Curtain: A Racial Equity Framework for Pediatric Professionals in Journal of Pediatric Nursing, Transforming the Pediatric Experience in Pediatric Annals and Zigler’s Conceptualization of Diversity: Implications for the Early Childhood Workforce in Journal of Development and Psychopathology and has presented on several child development topics including psychosocial assessment and Illinois Perinatal Quality Collaborative (ILPQC) conference. She is currently involved in research to strengthen professional standards of child life practices to serve marginalized pediatric populations, and is on staff at Northwestern Medicine’s Prentice Women’s Hospital.

Dr. Ferrer currently resides in Chicago with her two sons, Diego (12) and Marco (10) .