Tech Addiction in Children & Adolescents: Brain-Based Interventions to Optimize Digital Health in Today’s Screen Culture

CPD

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Speaker

Nicholas Kardaras, PhD, LCSW-R Related seminars and products

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Nicholas Kardaras, PhD, LCSW-R, is an Ivy League educated psychologist, best-selling author, internationally renowned speaker and an expert on mental health, addiction, and the impacts of our digital age. He has developed clinical treatment programs all over the country and is the founder and chief clinical officer of Maui Recovery in Hawaii, Omega Recovery in Austin, and the Launch House in New York.

Dr. Kardaras is a former clinical professor at Stony Brook Medicine where he specialized in teaching the neurophysiology and treatment of addiction. He has also taught neuropsychology at the doctoral-level and has worked closely in developing clinical protocols with Dr. Howard Shaffer, associate professor at Harvard Medical School and the director of their Division of Addiction.

Dr. Kardaras is the best-selling author of Glow Kids (St. Martin’s Press, 2016), has written for TIME magazine, Scientific American, Psychology Today, Salon, the NY Daily News, and Fox News, and has appeared on ABC’s 20/20, Good Morning America, the CBS Evening News, Fox & Friends, NPR, Good Day New York and in New York magazine and Vanity Fair. He was featured on the 2019 A&E TV Series Digital Addiction and his 2016 NY Post Op Ed “Digital Heroin” went viral with over six million views and shares.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Nicholas Kardaras is the CEO and Chief Clinical Officer of Omega Healthcare Group, and he is the founder of The National Institute for Digital Health and Wellness and the Austin Serenity Recovery Homes. He has an employment relationship with Stony Brook School of Social Welfare and maintains a private practice. Dr. Kardaras receives royalties as a published author. He receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Nicholas Kardaras has no relevant non-financial relationships.

Objectives

1. Formulate the neurological, dopaminergic, and hormonal/adrenal impact of screen time on children, adolescents and young adults.
2. Analyze the emerging research related to behavioural interventions for technology overuse.
3. Designate how tech overuse can impact pre-existing mental health disorders.
4. Utilize strategies for parents/caregivers to work with problem screen usage within the home including boundaries, discipline and communication.

Outline

Screen Culture:  Origins and Impact on Mental Health

• The origins of “indoor children”
• From passive TV viewing to immersive and interactive screen experiences
• What the research is telling us about technology and mental health

• Limitations of the state of the research

• Depression and social media
• Screen time’s impact on ADHD, increased aggression, and thought disorders 

Neurological Impact of Screen Time and Tech Overuse

• Dopamine’s role in addiction
• How brains are impacted by the dopaminergic effects of screens 
• The HPA Axis and adrenal “fight or flight” impact of screen stimulation
• Brain imaging and the effects on the frontal cortex

Technology in the Classroom: Helping or Hurting Educational Outcomes?

• Ed Tech: a $60 Billion annual industry
• The latest research on technology and education 
• Screens’ impact on reading and comprehension
• Phones in the classroom and standardized test scores

• Classroom strategies for technology use
• Treatment programs and interventions
• Recommendations for every family

Target Audience

• Counselors
• Social Workers
• Psychologists
• Psychotherapists
• Therapists
• Speech Language Pathologists
• Occupational Therapists
• Marriage and Family Therapists
• Case Managers
• Nurses
• School Guidance Counselors
• School Social Workers
• School Psychologists
• School Administrators
• Teachers
• Special Education Teachers
• School-based Clinicians
• Educational Paraprofessionals
• Other Helping Professionals that work with children

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