Professional Training on Adult Technology Overuse

Training at The Technology Treatment Practice gives licensed clinicians and healthcare providers a working framework for adult screen use: how to ask about it, what to listen for, and when it is shaping the presenting problem.

Screen habits rarely arrive as the chief complaint. They appear underneath sleep, attention, mood, and relationship concerns, in patients who would not describe themselves as having a problem with their phone. Recognizing that layer supports fuller, more accurate care.

Upcoming trainings and workshops at the Technology Treatment Practice offer  attendees practical diagnostic and assessment tools for technology overuse in adult patients. 

Sessions are led by Carole Shepherd, LCSW-R, an EMDRIA-approved consultant with nearly 30 years of clinical experience. 

• Differentiating Engagement from Impairment: Utilizing evidence-based screening tools to distinguish between necessary digital engagement (such as intensive work-related screen use) and functional impairment.
• Listening for Subtle Clinical Cues: Identifying hidden indicators of digital overuse across varied clinical settings, including relational technoference, device use for emotional regulation, and psychological withdrawal.
• Integrating Assessment Protocols: Embedding targeted technology screening questions seamlessly into standard intake procedures and ongoing treatment frameworks.

Sessions use the research terms (problematic smartphone and internet use; gaming disorder in ICD-11; internet gaming disorder in DSM-5-TR, Section III) and address what patients describe as phone or screen addiction. 

For one-to-one case consultation on adult technology overuse, see Clinical Consultation.