ScreenStrong Families

Not only is Tessa Stuckey a licensed professional therapist and author of For the Sake of Our Youth: A Therapist’s Perspective on Raising Your Family in Today’s Culture , she’s also raising four boys of her own. Tessa became a therapist with the goal of helping support children through the emotionally confusing teenage years, but what she found was worse than the dating drama and adolescent angst...

In today’s episode, Melanie talks with Tracy Markle, MA, LPC, who is the Founder/Owner of Collegiate Coaching Services & Founder/Co-Director at Digital Media Treatment and Education Center in Colorado. Melanie and Tracy begin their discussion identifying protective factors as well as risk factors to consider when establishing limits of media use within your family. Tracy explains the Self-Dete...

In this first of two episodes featuring Dr. Victoria Dunckley, Melanie and Victoria discuss the premise of the integrative psychiatrist’s book Reset Your Child’s Brain: A Four Week Plan to End Meltdowns, Raise Grades and Boost Social Skills by Reversing the Effects of Electronic Screen Time . Victoria explains how she came to be passionate about screen time through her early work with troubled chi...

Olivia Bruner, author of our March Book of the Month (BOTM) pick "Playstation Nation" joins the entire ScreenStrong Team and members from our community to answer YOUR questions about video games and kids, how the industry has changed, connecting with your older teen, and so much more! Support the show Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and leave a review if you enjoy the episode. Your...

The show today is taken from an interview with Adam Brooker about growing up as a gamer. He is very candid with his description of how gamers think, how they trade the real world for the virtual gaming world and their need to dominate. He touches on the dangerous habit of pornography and explains how smartphones and social media are very similar to the gaming trap. Listen to discover if your child...

Today Melanie continues her conversation with Olivia Bruner, author of our featured book of the month, Playstation Nation: Protect Your Child From Video Game Addiction . Olivia shares the rest of her family’s story and the steps she and her husband took to replace video games with parental connection and “real life.” Melanie and Olivia discuss the five most common mistakes parents make in attempti...

Today Melanie is joined by Adrienne, ScreenStrong Ambassador and mom of two teenagers. Adrienne shares her son’s struggle with ADHD, school anxiety, and the difficult decisions their family was forced to make because of his screen addiction. She emphasizes the importance of having like-minded community support because “no one can understand unless they are standing right there with you.” Adrienne...

In this episode, Melanie talks with Dr. Sarah Domoff, a Clinical Child Psychologist and the principal investigator for the Family Health Lab at Central Michigan University, Department of Psychology.  Melanie and Sarah talk about her research studies that she has published and what she discovered in her work that is forming her interventions with the parents she works with. Sarah shares her theory...

Andrew and Evan Hempe, now 17 years old, grew up in a video game-free home after their older brother’s life derailed due to a gaming addiction. Today,  Andrew and Evan are answering parents’ common questions about the ScreenStrong lifestyle from the perspective of high school teens. They discuss what it was like living with a former gamer sibling, how they managed to live through middle school wit...

In today’s episode, Melanie talks with Meghan Owenz, Ph. D., who is a psychologist, author, psychology professor, and mom of two young children. They discuss and break down Meghan’s child development-based S.P.O.I.L. system for prioritizing activities for your child’s day. Meghan emphasizes maintaining positive parental structure and rules that will ultimately help your child develop good habits a...

In today's episode, Melanie talks with Olivia Bruner, one of the authors of our featured book of the month, Playstation Nation: Protect Your Child From Video Game Addiction.  Olivia shares her family's journey with video game use and addiction, which ultimately led to the creation of their book Playstation Nation, to help other families identify and address video game addiction. Melanie...

Dr. Leonard Sax, author of our February Book of the Month (BOTM) pick "The Collapse of Parenting," joins the entire ScreenStrong Team and members from our community to answer YOUR questions about screens and kids, the American pharmaceutical companies, and so much more! Support the show Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and leave a review if you enjoy the episode. Your feedback helps...

In today's episode, Melanie is joined by Toni Ludlow, a mother of two young children, who shares her family's story of her daughter's traumatic experience with an online predator. Toni shares how her mother's intuition uncovered a manipulative bind her 10-year-old daughter fell into when she entered a chat room on a seemingly innocent online game. Toni points to the signs that...

In today’s episode, Melanie continues her in-depth conversation with Dr. Leonard Sax, author of The Collapse of Parenting . Together they explore solutions while challenging several myths and misconceptions that many American parents have in raising children today. Dr. Sax pinpoints the “collapse of parenting” as occurring when we, as parents, allow our children to make decisions in every domain....

In today’s episode, Melanie has a conversation with filmmaker, author, and mother, Tiffany Shlain, who created a transformative weekly practice that she calls “Tech Shabbat'' for her family. She shares how taking one day completely off screens every week can inspire creativity, connectedness, and introspection. Tiffany and Melanie have a candid discussion about raising kids more offline...

In this episode, Ashlee Ayre, an insightful and courageous young woman, shares her story of her 6-year addiction to pornography that started at age 11 when her parents gave her a smart phone. Melanie and Ashlee talk about the insidious nature of social media and the hidden dangers in Apps like Pinterest , Instagram , Snapchat , and other social media sites. They discuss how explicit content is eas...

Dr. Douglas Gentile is an award-winning research scientist, educator, author, and is professor of developmental psychology at Iowa State University. In this episode, he and Melanie discuss the science that supports the addictive quality of video games and the resistance of parents to believe the evidence supporting the conclusion to the question, "Are video games addictive?"  He hints as...

Dr. Leonard Sax is an American Psychologist and Family Physician with over 30 years experience. He is the internationally acclaimed author of our featured book, The Collapse of Parenting , which identifies a cultural shift in the parenting role in relation to the way parents are raising their children. In this conversation, Melanie and Dr. Sax focus on Chapters 1 thru 5, identifying multiple facto...

George Lynn and Cynthia Johnson, co-authors of our January Book of the Month (BOTM) pick "Breaking the Trance," join the entire ScreenStrong Team and members from our community to answer YOUR screen questions. Support the show Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and leave a review if you enjoy the episode. Your feedback helps us bring you more of the content you love. Stay Strong! Get...

In an online seminar, Melanie discusses how to reduce problematic screen use when learning from home. Support the show Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and leave a review if you enjoy the episode. Your feedback helps us bring you more of the content you love. Stay Strong! Get your copy of the BRAND NEW  Adventures of Super Brain  book! Start your ScreenStrong Journey today! Check out our Kids...

Patricia Gefert is a recently retired Early Childhood Educator of 35 years, a mother and grandmother, and a ScreenStrong Ambassador. In this podcast, Patricia shares her experiences with children from Kindergarten to Early Elementary. She notes the drastic changes she has witnessed in children's learning over the past 10-15 years, particularly how screens have affected their academic and soci...

Jessica Ludlow joins Melanie Hempe to share the most recent events in her journey to becoming a ScreenStrong Family. Support the show Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and leave a review if you enjoy the episode. Your feedback helps us bring you more of the content you love. Stay Strong! Get your copy of the BRAND NEW  Adventures of Super Brain  book! Start your ScreenStrong Journey today! Che...

Melanie interviews George Lynn, co-author of "Breaking the Trance," our January pick for the ScreenStrong Book Club. Get your physical or eBook copies of Breaking the Trance and read along with us! Support the show Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and leave a review if you enjoy the episode. Your feedback helps us bring you more of the content you love. Stay Strong! Get your copy of...

Melanie is joined by Lydia, a teen with an incredibly emotional ScreenStrong Challenge testimony.  Interested in being a podcast guest? Email us at team@screenstrong.com ! Support the show Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and leave a review if you enjoy the episode. Your feedback helps us bring you more of the content you love. Stay Strong! Get your copy of the BRAND NEW  Adventures of Super...

Melanie and Mandee give a detailed overview of The ScreenStrong Challenge, what's required, what to expect, and tips for getting through the detox period. Interested in being a podcast guest? Email us at team@screenstrong.com ! Support the show Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and leave a review if you enjoy the episode. Your feedback helps us bring you more of the content you love. Stay...