Introduction
Date Course Created: March 2026
Technology is transforming how we live, connect, and experience the world. All the while, mental health professionals are increasingly called to engage with its impact. This workshop provides a research-informed, clinically grounded exploration of how digital life shapes well-being, identity, and relationships.
With a balance of critical reflection, case-based discussion, and actionable tools, Dawn Friedman, MSEd, will examine the nuances of technology use across platforms like social media, gaming, AI, and virtual communication. Rather than pathologizing, this course emphasizes curiosity, cultural context, and collaborative inquiry. You’ll strengthen your ability to assess patterns of tech use, hold space for ambivalence and autonomy, and respond to digital challenges with ethical clarity and clinical skill.
Clinicians will leave this training better prepared to approach digital life in therapy, with the skills and understanding needed to:
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- Reflect on personal and cultural influences that shape technology beliefs and behaviors.
- Identify patterns of tech use across platforms and demographic groups.
- Facilitate collaborative, nonjudgmental conversations with clients about digital habits.
- Critically assess diagnostic debates and ethical concerns around “tech addiction.”
- Support client reflection on the functions and impacts of their technology use.
- Navigate ethical boundaries in clinicians’ own digital presence and communication.
Rooted in current research and real-world clinical complexities, Dawn will additionally explore demographic, psychological, and cultural influences. Special attention will be given to integrating technology into therapeutic practice in thoughtful, ethical, and client-centered ways. Any social workers, counselors, or marriage and family therapists seeking a nuanced and practical understanding of technology’s impact on mental health are invited to enroll for an informative session.
This is a 5.75-CE noninteractive, self-paced online video course delivered in home study format via an industry-standard online learning platform.
Agenda
00:00 – 01:00 → Technology and Counseling, Therapists and Social Media Use, Navigating the Complexities of Internet Use
01:00 – 01:51 → Defining Tech Addiction, Online Mediated Behaviors, The Internet’s Anonymity Paradox
01:51 – 02:47 → The Comfort of Soothing Content, Therapeutic Approaches to Digital Use, Screen Use Dynamics
02:47 – 03:46 → Gaming Disorder: A Potential DSM Diagnosis, Harm Reduction Strategies for Gaming, Mindfulness
03:46 – 04:44 → Resources, Family Communication, Parental Monitoring, Social Media Influence, Impact and Risks of AI
04:44 – 05:50 → Importance of Human Connection in Therapy, Mandated Reporting, Harm Reduction, Ethical Considerations
Objectives
This training will provide participants clinical knowledge and tools to:
After completing this training, participants will be able to reflect on and articulate their own beliefs, habits, and emotional responses related to technology use, recognizing personal biases and cultural influences.- After completing this training, participants will be able to describe and differentiate various patterns and contexts of technology use – including AI, gaming, social media, and online work/leisure – and discuss how generational, systemic, and cultural factors shape these experiences.
- After completing this training, participants will be able to engage in nuanced, collaborative conversations with clients about their technology use, that empower client autonomy and self-exploration.
- After completing this training, participants will be able to identify and critically evaluate the controversies, diagnostic debates, and ethical issues surrounding “technology addiction” and “problematic use,” including the limitations of current frameworks.
- After completing this training, participants will be able guide clients in self-assessment and reflection on their tech use, helping them understand its functions in their lives (both adaptive and potentially harmful) and connect use patterns to personal values and mental health.
- After completing this training, participants will be able to demonstrate increased awareness and skill in navigating boundaries and ethical dilemmas related to clinicians’ own technology use, self-disclosure, and digital presence in professional practice.
Target Audience:
Mental health counselors, psychologists, social workers, drug and alcohol counselors, marriage and family therapists, telehealth treatment professionals, and other clinical mental health professionals.
Instructional Level: Intermediate
Instructor(s): Dawn Friedman, MSEd, LPCC-S
Material Author(s): Dawn Friedman, MSEd, LPCC-S
For additional information about this course, the instructors, or the material authors, please contact Content Assistance at content@onlinececredits.com.
Course Materials & Delivery Method:
- Course Materials – The course is composed of a recorded presentation and written materials (e.g. a slide deck and/or other worksheets, manuals, or handouts as provided by the instructor). The slide deck and any additional worksheets or handouts (as provided by the instructor) are made available inside the Lesson module after a course is purchased.
- Delivery Method – This course is a recorded asynchronous, self-paced webinar training, and there is no access time limit or due date to complete it once enrolled. The enrolled learner will stream the recorded presentation and view the materials from their internet connected device via an industry-standard online learning platform.
CE Approvals:
National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC)
Online CE Credits has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6795. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Online CE Credits is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.
Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB)
Mind Works Professional Education, Inc. DBA Online CE Credits, #1974, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: July 23, 2025 – July 23, 2028. Social workers completing this course receive 5.75 clinical continuing education credits.
Other Helpful Information:
Refund & Cancellation Policy – You may review this policy at any time by clicking here.- Accessibility Accommodations – If you require a reasonable accommodation for any reason, please email your request to cc@onlinececredits.com.
- Course Completion Requirements – 1.) View the entire Lesson module (accessible from the main course page), to include the embedded and/or linked presentation video(s), slide deck, additional materials, and/or links to any shared video clip(s) that may have been edited from the presentation video(s) to comply with copyright laws. 2.) Click into the Quiz module accessible from either the main course page or the Lesson page and complete the Quiz with an 80% or better pass rate. 3.) Complete the Course Evaluation – you’ll be sent to the Evaluation automatically once you successfully pass the Quiz.
- Posttest Requirements – You must answer 80% or more of the Quiz questions correctly to pass. If you fail to pass the first time, you may attempt the quiz again until you are able to pass with a score of 80% or better. Quizzes are graded instantly and automatically by the learning management system once your attempt is submitted.
- Certificate of Completion – Certificates of Completion are automatically generated – downloadable from your Dashboard and emailed to you – once you view the Lesson Materials and complete the Quiz and the Course Evaluation.
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