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:

• 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.

Attendance and Location Details

Date and Time

**This is a 6-CE online seminar delivered virtually in real-time via an industry-standard webinar platform**

Friday, February 27, 2026, 9:00 am – 4:30 pm CST / 10:00am – 5:30pm EST / 7:00am – 2:30pm PST

*Live Webinar Attendees: Zoom link and course materials will be made available to you 24-48 hours prior to event date

Agenda: 

9:00 AM – 9:15 AM | Introduction & Framing

• • Course overview: Emphasize curiosity, critical thinking, and humility in exploring tech use.

9:15 AM – 9:55 AM | Definitions and Scope

• • Definitions of technological addiction and problematic use; why language matters.
  • Patterns of tech use: Social media, gaming, AI, online shopping, work, leisure, and hybrid forms.

9:55 AM – 10:35 AM | Prevalence and Demographics

• • Research highlights on who is most affected, why demographics matter, and patterns by age, gender, relationship status, and culture.

10:35 AM – 10:50 AM | Morning Break

10:50 AM – 11:25 AM | Psychological and Social Correlates

• • The link between technology use and mental health: ADHD, anxiety, depression, FOMO, peer pressure, social anxiety.
  • Case vignette: Discuss a client with overlapping tech/mental health issues.

11:25 – 12:00 PM | Diagnostic Controversies

• • Diagnostic debates: What is and isn’t considered an “addiction”?
  • Spectrum perspective: From adaptive to problematic to harmful.

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM | Lunch Break

1:00 PM – 2:00 PM | Treatment Approaches

• • Cognitive and behavioral interventions; brief mention of pharmacology for certain subtypes.
  • Research-validated assessments

2:00 PM – 2:30 PM | Technology as a Therapeutic Tool

• • Integrating Technology in Therapy (video games, virtual reality, social media, texting)

2:30 PM – 3:00 PM | Afternoon Break

2:45 PM – 3:15 PM | Sociocultural Perspectives

• • Forensic and ethical considerations
  • Strategies for accurate documentation and case presentation
  • Advanced case examples and discussion

3:15 PM – 4:00 PM | Boundaries, Ethics, and Clinician Self-Care

• • Navigating professional boundaries with technology: Email/text, online presence, self-disclosure, digital dual relationships.
  • Review of key takeaways

4:00 PM – 4:30 PM | Final discussion, integration, Q&A, and resource sharing

Objectives:

This training will provide participants clinical knowledge and tools to:

a). 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.

b). 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.

c). 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.

d). 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.

e). 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.

f). 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:

The target audience for this event includes psychologists, social workers, counselors, MFT’s, and other clinical mental health professionals.

Instructional Level: Intermediate

Instructor(s): Dawn Friedman, MSEd, LPCC-S

Material Author(s): Dawn Friedman, MSEd, LPCC-S

Dawn Friedman MSEd is a therapist in private practice; a lecturer at the Ohio State University in the Human Development and Family Studies department; and the founder of ChildAnxietySupport.com, a virtual education and support program for parents of anxious children. Dawn received her masters in community mental health counseling at the University of Dayton and has her post-graduate certificate in Infant and Toddler Mental Health through Arcadia University. In Portland, Oregon, Dawn founded the Safe to Grow program at the YWCA Women’s Resource Center, a shelter serving women and children escaping domestic violence, and taught parenting classes for the Oregon State Extension Service. Her writing appears in several books including Joanne Bombarger’s Mother’s of Intention (Bright Sky Press, 2011), Rebecca Walker’s anthology One Big Happy Family (Riverhead Press, 2009), Mothering and Blogging (Demeter Press, 2009) edited by May Friedman & Shana L. Calixte and the textbooks Child Adoption: Issues and Perspectives (Icfai University Press, 2009) and Mixed Heritage (Greenhaven Press, 2009). She has appeared on New Hampshire Public Radio’s Word of Mouth, on Q with Jian Ghomeshi, on Dawn Davenport’s Creating a Family, and also consulted on a This American Life episode about open adoption. She has presented at the Columbus Society for Clinical Social Work and Ohio State Counseling and Consultation; the 2011 Open Adoption Symposium in Richmond, VA; the American Adoption Congress annual conferences; the 2nd International Conference on Adoption and Culture; the Voices for Ohio’s Children Healthy Kids Conference; the Ohio Association for the Education of Young Children conference and several times for the All Ohio Counselors Conference and for the Central Ohio Counseling Association.

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 (including the link to view the scheduled live webinar) are made available to all registered attendees 24-48 hours before the event start time. 
• This training is interactive and provides opportunities to ask direct questions to the trainer as well as request immediate help from staff if needed. The attendee will view the presentation in real-time from their connected device via an industry-standard internet webinar platform.

CE Approvals:

Online CE Credits has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6795. Programs that do not quality for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Online CE Credits is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

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, 2024 – July 23, 2025. Social workers completing this course receive 6 clinical continuing education credits.

Other Helpful Information:

• Registration Deadline – Please register at any time prior to the advertised start time of this live webinar training.
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