BBC News story on smartphone addiction
Stefan Walters, a psychologist based in London offers all sorts of therapy including brainspotting.
psychology, london psychology, brainspotting, Stefan Walters
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BBC News story on smartphone addiction

I made a brief appearance on the BBC London News last week, for a story on smartphone addiction. You should still be able to view the video clip here on iPlayer, for the next few days at least.

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The story was about a secondary school in Wembley, North London, which is selling old-style ‘brick’ mobile phones to its teenage students for just £10, to encourage them to stop using smartphones. Having trialled a smartphone amnesty, students who had switched to the older phones reported better sleep, better concentration, improved relationships, and increasing levels of happiness.

Smartphone and computer addictions are increasingly common, particularly among teens who may already struggle to regulate their rapidly developing brains and bodies. The lure of the smartphone means that we are often not fully present with those around us, which decreases levels of attunement and secure attachment, as seen in the Still Face Experiment. I often hear disconnected couples in therapy talk about how they feel that their partner’s laptop or phone has become the priority at home; pushing them into second place. This may also escalate into behaviours such as videogame or online porn addiction.

It is important to recognise that addiction is a habitual experience of disconnection. Disconnection from disowned parts of our selves, from uncomfortable feelings – such as boredom, loneliness, or sadness – and from others. Recovery, therefore, is the process of learning to slowly reconnect to these disowned parts of ourselves, these uncomfortable feelings, and others. The opposite of addiction is connection. This is why attunement and attachment, which shape our capacity to connect, are crucial elements in the recovery framework, and to work on in therapy.

If you would like to explore working on these, or any other, issues in therapy, please do not hesitate to contact me.

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