Richard Hogan: Can you rise to the challenge and give up your screen this weekend?

"I decided to live without for the weekend. It was a challenge my wife set me. As I handed over my phone on Friday evening, I felt a little uncomfortable. However, I have to say it was such a relief not to have for two days."

Richard Hogan: We should have a policy in the house for technology and we should ensure there are significant moments during the weekends where our children are free from technology and just being together

Working with families is very rewarding work. It is such a privilege to be invited into a family’s story and work with all members of that unit to bring about change and resolution. Often, the work is to allow each member to be heard. When we live so close to each other, we can assume we know the others’ lived experiences, which can cause tension as each member of the family feels unheard or misunderstood. So, giving each member a safe space to delineate their experience is often enough to affect change.

However, over recent years the reason families come to therapy began to shift. I noticed a striking similarity among many families seeking out therapy that I hadn’t seen before. This similarity was the genesis of my book, Parenting the Screenager.