Research & Training
Our Research & Training Illuminates
the Power of Play and Community.
Through evidence-based studies and national partnerships, our research and training is helping shape a new understanding of what healing looks like for medically vulnerable children. By studying the impact of play, creative expression, and connection and teaching others how they can implement community-based solutions we’re turning moments of joy into measurable outcomes for mental health and wellbeing.
Joy isn’t just a feeling.
It’s a measurable factor in healing.
Our work sits at the intersection of play, psychosocial health, and pediatric care, and we’re deeply committed to building an evidence base that validates what families have known all along: emotional wellbeing is essential to recovery.
We see play as both a
language and a lifeline.
It's a tool that reduces anxiety, builds resilience, and fosters emotional regulation at a time when everything else feels uncertain.
Through partnerships with researchers, mental health professionals, and children’s hospitals nationwide, A Moment of Magic is helping define what whole-child healing can look like. Together, we’re developing data-driven insights into the psychosocial needs of children facing serious illness and testing innovative, play-based interventions that close the gap between medical treatment and emotional recovery.
Published Research & Reports
Examining the Mental & Behavioral Health Vulnerabilities of Child Cancer Survivors
2024
The Vulnerabilities Report, developed in partnership with MindArch Health, identifies critical psychosocial risks among childhood cancer survivors and underscores the need for scalable, trauma-informed, play-based interventions, like Express, Create, Heal, to support long-term mental health and wellbeing.
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Case Study: Enhancing Wellbeing for Childhood Cancer Survivors through Socioecological Approach
2025
This 2024 case study, conducted in partnership with MindArch Health, demonstrated the feasibility and impact of integrating the EQUIP Model and 5-Elements of Systemic Wellbeing Framework within A Moment of Magic’s Express, Create, Heal program, highlighting rapport and relatability as key protective factors for improving the mental wellbeing of childhood cancer survivors
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Implementing Volunteer Led Mental Wellness Interventions for Pediatric Cancer Survivors
2025
Presented at the 2025 Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Coalition Conference, this study introduced Express, Create, Heal, a volunteer-led, trauma-informed, arts-based program that improves emotional expression, regulation, and peer connection for adolescent and young adult cancer survivors, offering a scalable model for equitable, holistic survivorship care.
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Conference Presentations & Speaking Engagements
Childhood Cancer Prevention Symposium
2025
Houston, TX
Psychosocial and Mental Health, Protection, and Prevention
Massachusetts School Psychologists Association
2025
Boston, MA
Introduction to Pediatric Cancer and Mental Health for School Psychologists and Guidance Counselors
Coalition Against Childhood Cancer
2025
Washington, DC
Beyond the Diagnosis: A Design Lab for the Future of Mental Health and
Psychosocial Support in Pediatric Cancer Care
Greater Lakes Association of Child Life Professionals
2025
Cleveland, OH
Extending Psychosocial Support Beyond the Hospital: Lessons from Community-Based Mental Health Interventions
Adolescent & Young Adult Cancer Coalition
2025
Chapel Hill, NC
Implementing Volunteer Led Mental Wellness Interventions for Pediatric Cancer Survivors
Trainings, Toolkits & Curricula
Introduction to Pediatric Cancer and Mental Health
Trauma-Informed Museums: Empathy-Driven Tools for Creating Accessible and Supportive Visitor Experiences