“Professionalization”of child life workers has potentially many benefits for workers and for the children and families they serve. An additional critical factor in enhancing job satisfaction, effectiveness, and retention is recognition of and facilitation of each worker's professional development. A development framework, based on the theory and research of Erikson (1963) and Katz (1972), is presented, as well as supportive strategies and training sources, to provide a structure for understanding and helping the“developing”child life worker.