Disconnect: Millennials, media, and mental health

This week, I’ll turn the mic over to two guest hosts, for a conversation about mental health and technology with Dr. Elizabeth Barrett, licensed family-marriage counselor, author, and Cal Poly professor. Cal Poly “Technically Human” students Katelyn Travis and Katrina Loye interview Dr. Barrett to discuss the modern implications of digital technologies for family and romantic dynamics.

The episode delves into the complications of recent technology, including social media apps and the shift into virtual education due to Covid-19. In a virtual world, we lose connection and intimacy in the relationships that should be most important to us, and Dr. Barrett helps us brainstorm ways that we can reconnect in our coldly digital world.

Dr. Elizabeth Barrett is a Psychology and Child Development professor at the California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo where she lectures on the topics of counseling, family psychology, child abuse and neglect, and marriage and family therapy. She is a licensed marriage and family therapist of 20 years and a mental health coach specializing in personal growth, family life, and relationship issues. She has worked with the county of San Luis Obispo as a crisis/in-home counselor for a child abuse prevention program where she focused on communication’s importance in individual health and the well-being of a family. Her expertise surrounding family psychology and the psychological impact of our evolving society is enhanced through her roles as a wife, mother, grandmother, sister, and daughter. She shares her concerns regarding our collective mental health and the direction of the helping professions on her weekly radio program on Public Radio KCBX, A Conversation with the Reluctant Therapist.

Thank you to Katrina Loye and Katelyn Travis for hosting this week’s show!

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Art by Desi Aleman.