Melissa Hicks
MS, CCLS, LPC, RPT

Program Development Committee Chair

Missi has been a child life specialist for over 20 years and almost her entire career has been focused on providing support services to children impacted by cancer.  She has worked in an inpatient setting at both Johns Hopkins Children's Center and AFLAC Cancer Center at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.  She has also worked in community based settings where her positions have been in private practice, the camp setting and also a nonprofit setting providing individual and group counseling to children impacted by cancer.   She is the co-founder of a nonprofit called Wonders & Worries, which has grown exponentially over the past eight years.  She is passionate about psychosocial services for children with cancer and fears that sometimes that aspect of care is overlooked or under appreciated, particularly when competing for limited resources.
 
Missi has served as President of the Child Life Council, the professional association for child life specialists.  In addition to being a certified child life specialist, she is also a licensed professional counselor and a registered play therapist and supervisor.