Digital Wellness Therapy in Chicago
You probably aren’t here because you simply have “too much screen time.”
You’re here because something about your relationship with technology no longer feels the way you want it to.
Maybe you find yourself reaching for your phone without thinking.
Maybe scrolling helps you unwind—but leaves you feeling more anxious than rested.
Maybe social media leaves you comparing yourself to others, or you notice you’re constantly checking notifications even when you’d rather be present with the people around you.
Technology is woven into modern life. It helps us work, learn, connect, and unwind. The goal isn’t to eliminate technology—it’s to better understand the role it plays in your life and create a relationship with it that feels intentional, supportive, and aligned with your values.
At Balanced Awakening, Digital Wellness Therapy offers a compassionate space to explore your technology use without shame or judgment. Together, we’ll better understand your patterns, strengthen your connection with yourself, and create healthier habits that support your emotional well-being.
Meet Our Digital Wellness Therapists in Chicago
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Olivia Palumbo, MA
When Coping Stops Feeling Helpful
Technology has become part of nearly every aspect of modern life. It helps us stay connected, learn new things, navigate our days, relax after work, and maintain relationships across distance.
Most of us don’t reach for our phones because we’re lazy or lacking willpower.
We reach for them because they’re incredibly good at meeting real human needs.
Sometimes we scroll to unwind after a stressful day.
Sometimes we check social media because we’re feeling lonely.
Sometimes we stream a show, play a game, shop online, or read the news because we need distraction, comfort, stimulation, or a break from difficult emotions.
These aren’t character flaws—they’re coping strategies.
Often, technology begins as something genuinely helpful.
But over time, you may notice it isn’t serving you in quite the same way.
Maybe you’re spending more time scrolling than you intended.
Maybe you’re constantly switching between apps without feeling satisfied.
Maybe you feel mentally overloaded, emotionally disconnected, or struggle to be fully present even during moments of rest.
Digital Wellness Therapy isn’t about taking your phone away.
It’s about becoming curious.
Together, we’ll explore what role technology is playing in your life, what needs it’s helping meet, and how you can create a relationship with it that feels intentional, supportive, and aligned with your values.
Does Any of This Feel Familiar?
Your relationship with technology is unique. You may recognize yourself in one—or several—of these experiences
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Always Reaching for Your Phone
You pick up your phone almost automatically—during quiet moments, while waiting in line, between tasks, or even in the middle of conversations. Sometimes you don’t even remember deciding to reach for it.
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Feeling Constantly Overstimulated
By the end of the day, your mind feels crowded. Notifications, emails, texts, headlines, videos, and endless information leave you feeling mentally exhausted, even when you’ve been sitting still.
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Scrolling Into the Night
You tell yourself you’ll check one thing before bed, but thirty minutes—or two hours—passes before you realize it. Sleep becomes harder, and your mind never quite has the chance to slow down.
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Difficulty Focusing
Staying with one task feels harder than it used to. You find yourself jumping between tabs, apps, conversations, or thoughts, making it difficult to concentrate or fully engage with what matters most.
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Comparison & Self-Doubt
Social media can leave you questioning whether you’re doing enough, achieving enough, or measuring up. Even when you know what you see isn’t the full picture, comparison can quietly chip away at your confidence.
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Escaping Difficult Feelings
Sometimes technology becomes a way to avoid boredom, loneliness, anxiety, sadness, or overwhelm. It offers temporary relief, but afterward you may feel disconnected or frustrated that the underlying feelings are still there.
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Never Feeling Truly Rested
Even after spending an evening “relaxing,” you don’t actually feel refreshed. Your body may have stopped moving, but your mind has remained engaged, stimulated, and constantly taking in new information.
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Living on Autopilot
You find yourself opening apps without thinking, checking notifications out of habit, or reaching for your phone whenever there’s a quiet moment. Technology begins to feel less like a conscious choice and more like an automatic reflex.
Why Is It So Hard to Put Our Phones Down?
If you’ve ever found yourself thinking, “Why can’t I just stop scrolling?” you’re not alone.
Technology isn’t simply competing for your attention—many digital platforms are intentionally designed to keep it.
Apps, social media platforms, games, streaming services, and online shopping often rely on features like notifications, endless scrolling, intermittent rewards, and constantly changing content to encourage us to stay engaged. Every swipe, refresh, or notification offers the possibility of something new, making it genuinely difficult for our brains to disengage.
This isn’t a reflection of weak willpower.
It’s a reflection of how our brains naturally respond to novelty, reward, and connection.
Research suggests that excessive screen use can contribute to increased stress, anxiety, distractibility, sleep disruption, and difficulty sustaining attention for some individuals. At the same time, technology also helps us learn, work, build relationships, and access meaningful support.
The goal isn’t to eliminate technology.
It’s to understand how it’s affecting you.
When we begin noticing our patterns with curiosity instead of criticism, we create opportunities to make choices that feel more intentional and aligned with the life we want to live.
Technology Isn’t the Problem
Technology itself isn’t inherently good or bad.
For many of us, it helps us stay connected with loved ones, navigate our workdays, discover new ideas, access healthcare, build communities, and find moments of joy.
The more helpful question isn’t:
“How do I use less technology?”
It’s:
“What role is technology playing in my life right now?”
Sometimes technology helps us connect.
Sometimes it helps us cope.
Sometimes it offers comfort after a difficult day.
Sometimes it gives us a temporary escape from stress, loneliness, boredom, grief, or anxiety.
These are very human needs.
Rather than approaching technology with shame or rigid rules, therapy invites us to become curious about the needs our technology use may be meeting.
You might begin asking yourself:
What am I reaching for this to feel?
What am I hoping to avoid right now?
What need is this meeting?
When does technology leave me feeling energized or connected?
When does it leave me feeling depleted, distracted, or disconnected?
Often, awareness becomes the first step toward change.
From Autopilot to Intention
Many of us don’t consciously decide to check our phones dozens—or even hundreds—of times a day.
It simply happens.
A notification appears.
A moment of boredom arises.
A difficult emotion surfaces.
There’s a pause between tasks.
Before we realize it…
We’re scrolling.
These patterns often develop gradually and automatically. Over time, technology can become our default response to stress, loneliness, uncertainty, or even moments of quiet.
The goal of Digital Wellness Therapy isn’t to eliminate these habits overnight.
It’s to bring them back into awareness.
When we begin noticing our patterns without judgment, we create space for choice.
You might begin asking yourself:
Is this helping me feel more connected—or more disconnected?
What do I need right now that my phone can’t provide?
Am I choosing this intentionally, or am I running on autopilot?
How do I feel before, during, and after using technology?
Sometimes the answer is that technology is serving you well.
Sometimes it isn’t.
Both answers offer valuable information.
The goal isn’t perfection.
It’s creating a relationship with technology that feels supportive, flexible, and aligned with your values.
Reconnecting with Life Beyond the Screen
Technology offers countless opportunities to learn, connect, and unwind. But when it becomes our primary way of coping, we may gradually lose touch with other experiences that help us feel grounded and fulfilled.
As your relationship with technology becomes more intentional, you may find yourself making room for things that nourish you in different ways.
That might include:
Spending uninterrupted time with people you care about.
Rediscovering hobbies or creative interests.
Moving your body in ways that feel enjoyable.
Spending time outdoors.
Allowing yourself to experience boredom without immediately filling the space.
Practicing mindfulness or simply noticing what’s happening around you.
Creating healthier boundaries between work and personal time.
Protecting your sleep by giving your mind opportunities to slow down before bed.
Digital wellness isn’t about replacing technology with a perfectly curated morning routine.
It’s about expanding the ways you care for yourself so technology becomes one helpful tool—not the only one.
How Therapy Can Help
Changing technology habits isn’t about having more discipline.
It’s about understanding yourself more deeply.
Together, we’ll explore the role technology plays in your life with curiosity, compassion, and without shame. We’ll look at the needs your technology use may be meeting, the situations that tend to trigger automatic habits, and the patterns that no longer feel aligned with the life you want to live.
Therapy can help you:
Explore what you’re seeking when you reach for technology.
Better understand patterns related to stress, anxiety, burnout, loneliness, perfectionism, or executive functioning.
Build greater awareness of habits that have become automatic.
Develop healthier boundaries around work, social media, and screen time.
Strengthen your ability to tolerate boredom, stillness, discomfort, and difficult emotions.
Reconnect with relationships, hobbies, creativity, and parts of yourself that may have become harder to access amidst constant stimulation.
Create realistic, sustainable habits that support your well-being rather than relying on rigid rules or all-or-nothing thinking.
Digital wellness isn’t about using technology less for the sake of using it less.
It’s about creating more space for the life you want to live.
Common Questions About Digital Wellness Therapy
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Not at all. Technology is an essential part of modern life and can help us stay connected, learn, work, and unwind. Digital Wellness Therapy isn’t about eliminating technology—it’s about understanding how it affects your well-being and whether your current habits align with your values and goals.
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Yes. Therapy can help you explore the role technology plays in your life, identify patterns that no longer feel supportive, and develop healthier, more intentional habits. Rather than focusing on restriction or willpower, therapy encourages curiosity, self-awareness, and sustainable change.
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Many people do. Technology often becomes a way to soothe difficult emotions, escape overwhelm, reduce boredom, or seek connection. Therapy can help you understand what needs your technology use may be meeting while expanding your toolkit for coping in ways that feel more restorative.
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No. Digital Wellness Therapy can address many different aspects of technology use, including social media, gaming, streaming, online shopping, work-related technology, constant notifications, doomscrolling, and feeling overwhelmed by being constantly connected.
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Our therapy rate for the first two sessions is $250. After that, 55 minute sessions are $225.
Most of our therapists are in network with United Healthcare/Optum, BCBS PPO and Aetna insurance.
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Research suggests that excessive or compulsive technology use may contribute to increased stress, anxiety, distractibility, sleep disruption, and emotional overwhelm for some individuals. Everyone’s relationship with technology is different, which is why therapy focuses on understanding your unique experiences rather than applying one-size-fits-all rules.
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Absolutely. Digital Wellness Therapy isn’t about giving up technology. The goal is to build a relationship with technology that feels intentional, balanced, and supportive of your overall well-being. For many people, meaningful change comes from small, sustainable shifts rather than dramatic restrictions.
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If you’ve been feeling stuck in patterns that no longer feel supportive—whether that’s constant scrolling, difficulty focusing, comparison on social media, trouble disconnecting from work, or relying on technology to avoid difficult emotions—therapy can provide a compassionate space to better understand those patterns and explore new ways of responding.
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Getting started is flexible and designed to meet you where you are. You’re welcome to book an appointment directly with a clinician, or complete our matchmaking form so we can help connect you with a therapist whose approach and availability align with your needs.
You’re always invited to ask questions, share concerns, and take your time deciding whether therapy feels like the right next step.
What Our Clients Are Saying
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During our first session Hannah was proactive in creating a plan of action to properly diagnose me and address my concerns. Detailed. Office is beautiful. Love the decor, relaxing ambiance and free tea.
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She was very kind and thorough during intake and the entire office looks like something out of a lifestyle magazine.
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The office is lovely and welcoming, the in-take paperwork helped me prepare for what I wanted to talk about and gave me a starting point.
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Dr. Yang is warm and empathic, and made me feel comfortable from the very beginning.
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Emma has been very supportive through major life changes for me. Her sweet and gentle nature made it easy for me to feel safe to open up to her. I am very grateful for her support and kindness.
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It was my first visit and she made me feel so safe. I opened up right away!
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Reconnect with What Matters Most
Technology will always be part of modern life.
The goal isn’t to disconnect from the world—it’s to reconnect with yourself.
Whether you’re feeling overwhelmed by constant stimulation, caught in patterns that no longer feel supportive, or simply curious about creating a healthier relationship with technology, therapy can help you move from autopilot to intention.
Together, we’ll explore your relationship with technology with curiosity, compassion, and without judgment—so you can create habits that support the life you want to live.
Schedule Your 1st Appointment
Digital Wellness Therapy Across Chicago
We offer digital wellness therapy at our Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Andersonville, and Loop offices, as well as telehealth throughout Illinois.