Frum Therapist: Mental Health Resources for the Frum Community

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Digital Lives:
The Impact of Social Media on Adolescent Development and Mental Health

Social media plays an increasingly influential role in the lives of adolescents, shaping their social interactions, self-identity, and mental health. This training explores the complexities of adolescent development in the digital age, with a focus on how social media impacts the emotional, psychological, and social well-being of young people. Participants will gain insight into the neuroscience of adolescence, understanding how social media platforms capitalize on brain vulnerabilities to maximize engagement.

In addition to examining the mental health risks associated with social media, such as anxiety, depression, and cyberbullying, this training will highlight the potential benefits, including social connection and creative expression. Through interactive discussions, case studies, and practical strategies, participants will learn to identify harmful patterns of social media use and foster healthy digital habits among adolescents. This session will deepen your understanding of the digital landscape and equip you to help adolescents navigate social media responsibly.

https://frumtherapist.com/workshops/DigitalLives/view

Digital Lives:
The Impact of Social Media on Adolescent Development and Mental Health

Tuesday, January 14, 2025, 1:45 PM EST

Presenter: Janelle Martinez, LCSW-C, LICSW Guided Growth Professionals LLC

Course Length: 3 Hours

Learning Objectives:

Increase awareness of how social media use affects adolescent brain development and behavior, including the impact on mental health, self-esteem, and emotional regulation.
Understand both the positive and negative influences of social media on adolescent development, including the benefits of social connection and the risks of cyberbullying, anxiety, and FOMO (fear of missing out).
Identify signs of social media-related challenges in adolescents, such as cyberubullying or excessive use, and provide resources to help them manage their digital lives more effectively.
Learn practical strategies to promote healthy social media use among adolescents, including setting boundaries, encouraging critical media literacy, and supporting emotional well-being.

This workshop Offers 3 Live Interactive Continuing Education Credits

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Social media plays an increasingly influential role in the lives of adolescents, shaping their social interactions, self-identity, and mental health. This training explores the complexities of adolescent development in the digital age, with a focus on how social media impacts the emotional, psychological, and social well-being of young people. Participants will gain insight into the neuroscience of adolescence, understanding how social media platforms capitalize on brain vulnerabilities to maximize engagement.

In addition to examining the mental health risks associated with social media, such as anxiety, depression, and cyberbullying, this training will highlight the potential benefits, including social connection and creative expression. Through interactive discussions, case studies, and practical strategies, participants will learn to identify harmful patterns of social media use and foster healthy digital habits among adolescents. This session will deepen your understanding of the digital landscape and equip you to help adolescents navigate social media responsibly.

Learning Objectives:

Increase awareness of how social media use affects adolescent brain development and behavior, including the impact on mental health, self-esteem, and emotional regulation.
Understand both the positive and negative influences of social media on adolescent development, including the benefits of social connection and the risks of cyberbullying, anxiety, and FOMO (fear of missing out).
Identify signs of social media-related challenges in adolescents, such as cyberubullying or excessive use, and provide resources to help them manage their digital lives more effectively.
Learn practical strategies to promote healthy social media use among adolescents, including setting boundaries, encouraging critical media literacy, and supporting emotional well-being.

Agenda:

Welcome and Housekeeping (10 minutes)

1. Icebreaker: Participants will complete a poll regarding their concerns about social media use and adolescents in which they have experienced
2. Overview of training objectives and agenda.

Adolescents and Social Media Landscape (25 minutes)
1. Review the growing prevalence of social media in adolescent life.
2. Key statistics and trends (e.g., average time spent on social media, popular platforms).
3. How social media is shaping adolescent interactions and identity development.

The Neuroscience of Adolescence and Social Media (35 minutes)
1. Overview of adolescent brain development
2. Review of how social media exploits adolescent brain vulnerabilities
3. Watch Video Clip: How Much Do Social Media Algorithms Control You?

Impact of Social Media on Mental Health (30 minutes)
1. Discuss key mental health impacts, including:
2. Anxiety and depression linked to social media overuse.
3. The rise of “social comparison” and its effects on self-esteem.
4. Case Studies: Real-life examples of social media’s influence on adolescent mental health. (Watch Video Clip: Our Turn To Talk documentary)
5. Participant Discussion: How does this impact show up in participants’ work or families?

Break (10 minutes)

Benefits of Social Media for Adolescents (20 minutes)
1. Positive aspects of social media, including:
2. Connection with peers, communities, and support networks.
3. Access to information, social causes, and creative expression.
4. Participant Discussion: How teens can use social media in positive, growth-oriented ways?

Risks and Challenges: Cyberbullying, Anxiety, FOMO (20 minutes)
1. Discuss social media-related risks, such as:
2. Cyberbullying and its long-term effects.
3. Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) and how it increases social anxiety.
4. Sleep disruption and academic impacts.
5. Participant Discussion: Which challenges do participants’ encounter most frequently with clients or families?

Strategies for Healthy Social Media Use (20 minutes)
1. Review practical strategies to help adolescents manage social media use:
2. Setting time limits, using “digital detox” strategies.
3. Encouraging critical thinking about content and influencers.
4. Creating balanced offline and online experiences.
5. Share key resources (e.g., apps, parental control tools, mental health services).
6. Breakout Groups: Participants will break out into groups and will be assigned a case vignette in which they will develop a treatment plan to assist with identifying and addressing strategies related to healthy social media use for adolescents.
7. Group Debrief and Report Out

Q&A and Closing Remarks (10 minutes)
1. Open forum for additional questions and sharing.
2. Provide participants with handouts/resources for further reading and support.

This presentation is open to:

Social Workers
Professional Counselors
Therapists
Psychologists
Licensed Mental Health Practitioners
Medical Doctors and Other Health Professionals
Other professionals interacting with populations engaged in mental health based services

Course Level: introductory

Level of Clinician: beginner

New practitioners who wish to gain enhanced insight surrounding the topic
Experienced practitioners who seek to increase and expand fundamental knowledge surrounding the subject matter
Advanced practitioners seeking to review concepts and reinforce practice skills and/or access additional consultation
Managers seeking to broaden micro and/or macro perspectives

Participants will receive their certificate electronically upon completion of the webinar and course evaluation form.

Disability Access - If you require ADA accommodations, please contact our office 30 days or more before the event. We cannot ensure accommodations without adequate prior notification. Please Note: Licensing Boards change regulations often, and while we attempt to stay abreast of their most recent changes, if you have questions or concerns about this course meeting your specific board’s approval, we recommend you contact your board directly to obtain a ruling. The grievance policy for trainings provided by the NEFESH INTERNATIONAL is available here Satisfactory Completion Participants must have paid the tuition fee, logged in and out each day, attended the entire workshop, and completed an evaluation to receive a certificate (If this is a pre-recorded program, a post-test with a passing grade of 80% to receive a certificate.) Failure to log in or out will result in forfeiture of credit for the entire course. No exceptions will be made. Partial credit is not available. Certificates are available after satisfactory course completion by clicking here.

There is no conflict of interest or commercial support for this program.

Therapist Express is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0774.
Therapist Express is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed marriage and family therapists #MFT-0129.
Therapist Express is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0325.
Therapist Express is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed marriage and family therapists #MFT-0129.
Therapist Express is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0325.
CE You! is an approved sponsor of the Maryland Board of Social Work Examiners for continuing education credits for licensed social workers in Maryland.
CE You! maintains responsibility for this program.

Refunds
Registrants who are unable to attend a Frum Therapist seminar or live workshop may ask for, and will receive, a credit or refund (your choice). Refund requests will be processed within 3 business days. When an attendee knows in advance that they are unable to attend we ask that they inform Frum Therapist ahead of time by emailing [email protected] or by calling or texting (607) 249-4585 this allows us to free up the spot in the training in the event that a training is at or near capacity.