Social connection is fundamental to the human experience. Our minds are incentivized to connect with other humans by the release of warm and fuzzy pleasure-inducing chemicals that encourage us to communicate with and touch other humans. Mimicking this strategy is how technology companies commandeer our bodies and minds to keep us transfixed on their product. Unfortunately, their products only feed us half of the normal biological reward and it can negatively impact our mental health. To decode the intense draw technology has for humans, Positive Psychology Podcast Host Lisa Cypers Kamen speaks with three experts in emotional and social learning skills about how to create and maintain a healthy mind in a digital world. Rachael Katz and Helen Hadani describe the theory of mind and other findings from the book they co-authored, The Emotionally Intelligent Child: Effective Strategies for Parenting Self-Aware, Cooperative, and Well-Balanced Kids. And, the co-founder of the non-profit Healthy Screen Habits, Amy Adams, shares how technology hooks us, why teenagers are the most susceptible to the draw, and how a family tech plan can maintain balance in the home.

About Lisa’s guests: 

Helen Shwe Hadani, Ph.D., is currently a fellow at the Brookings Institution where she conducts policy-focused research on the benefits of playful learning in both formal and informal contexts. Prior to joining Brookings, she served as the director of research at the Bay Area Discovery Museum. 

Rachael Katz, MS, Ed, teaches social and emotional learning skills to parents and children. Previously, Rachael was head of the Discovery School at the Bay Area Discovery Museum, head of social and emotional learning for Early Years at Dulwich College Beijing, and an elementary classroom teacher. She has created and written television for Nick Jr. and Radio Television Hong Kong, and consulted for educational programs at Children’s Television Workshop.

Amy Adams, MSW, PPSC, is the co-founder of the non-profit Healthy Screen Habits, which is dedicated to educating and empowering families to develop healthy habits with technology use. Amy is a credentialed school social worker and has worked with children of all ages in schools. She currently works at a high school providing counseling services to special education students. She also serves as a trustee on her local Board of Education. Amy has a Master’s in Social Work from UCLA and lives in the Los Angeles area with her husband and four children.