Compass Health Center accepts most major commercial insurance plans. Insurance benefits and coverage are verified individually, call us to understand how Compass works with you to make care as affordable as possible.
Child Screen Dependence Treatment
Building Healthy Screen Time Habits for Kids
Screen Time Management Program For Kids Ages 8-14
About the Program
Program offerings may differ by location. Kindly call us to confirm specific program details.
Ages
- Child (8-13)
Treatment Levels
- IOP
- PHP
In-Person
- Chicago, IL
Program Overview
Screen Dependence in Children
Welcome to Compass Health Center’s Child Screen Dependence Program, where we help your child and family find a healthy approach to screen use. In today’s digital age, screens play a significant role in our lives, offering both opportunities and challenges. Our program is designed to provide support and guidance to children aged 8-14 and their parents as they navigate the complexities of screen usage.
Understanding the Impact of Screen Dependence in Children
We recognize that excessive screen time or sudden removal of screens can lead to challenges such as low mood, isolation, and anxiety. On the other hand, screens can also foster creativity, social connections, and critical thinking. At Compass, we believe in finding the right balance that promotes positive growth and well-being.
Developing Healthy Screen Time Habits: Empowering Kids with Coping Skills
We recognize that excessive screen time or sudden removal of screens can lead to challenges such as low mood, isolation, and anxiety. On the other hand, screens can also foster creativity, social connections, and critical thinking. At Compass, we believe in finding the right balance that promotes positive growth and well-being.
Supportive Therapy for Screen Dependence in Kids: Environment for Growth
Our state-of-the-art group rooms are equipped with TVs and various video game consoles, providing a supportive environment for children to learn how to separate themselves from screens when necessary. Our clinical staff is there every step of the way, teaching CBT/DBT coping skills to tolerate this transition.
Family Approach to Screen Time Management: A Collaborative Method
We believe in the strength of family collaboration. Our program involves parents in problem-solving screen use challenges and providing children with alternative activities. Together, we promote mindful and intentional screen use within your home.
Signs of Screen Dependence in Kids: Identifying Overreliance
- Excessive preoccupation with screens/devices
- Frequent planning of screen time even when not using devices
- Escalating urges to engage in screen-related activities
- Unsuccessful attempts to reduce screen time
- Frustration or distress when unable to access screens
- Negative impact on academics, social life, family relationships, etc.
- Using screens to escape personal problems
*Not available at all locations
What to Expect
Our Child Screen Dependence Treatment Program
Compass’s customized treatment plans are tailored to the needs of each individual and adapted over the course of treatment. Program participants work with therapists who specialize in screen dependence, as well as mood and anxiety. This individualized approach to treatment supports children and families in achieving meaningful and functional life.
Immediate Access
Mental health assessments within 24 hours, with program entry as soon as the next day.
Psychiatric Evaluations
Concurrent treatment for co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders.
24/7 Psychiatric Access
On-call prescribers available around the clock for urgent needs outside program hours.
Personalized Treatment Plans
Tailored care plans built around each participant’s goals for sustainable progress.
Evidence-Based Therapies
Gold-standard clinical approaches rooted in research and best practices.
Integrated Care Model
A psychiatrist or psychiatric nurse practitioner follows each participant throughout treatment and manages medication when appropriate.
Multidisciplinary Team
Psychiatrists, therapists, nurses, group, individual, and family therapists, education specialists, and discharge planners who specialize in mood, anxiety, and co-occurring conditions.
Child Screen Dependence Treatment Modalities: Our Therapies and Approaches
*Not available at all locations
Individual therapy is a confidential, one-on-one session between a patient and a licensed therapist focused on supporting mental health treatment through evidence-based care. In these sessions, the therapist and patient work together to explore thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, identify unhelpful patterns, and develop personalized coping strategies and treatment goals.
Family therapy occurs between a therapist and all or some family members. It is often focused on exploring the dynamics within a family, improving communication, resolving conflict, and helping families live more harmoniously. Supporting families in family therapy to integrate evidence-based skills as a family and as individuals can be incredibly impactful. Skills can help family members feel more connected with one another and empower them to manage stressors in the family system. At times, the therapist might want to meet with individuals alone to prepare for sessions with the whole family system; however, most of the treatment is provided with families together. At Compass, family therapy is an essential part of our treatment model. Ensuring our patients and their loved ones feel informed, supported, and engaged in the treatment process and practicing evidence-based skills is a top priority. Our dedicated family therapists work closely with patients to identify who should participate in family therapy sessions and to create a focus for those sessions to best support their goals at Compass.
Group therapy includes one or two group facilitators and a cohort of participants (typically between 4 – 16 people in the space). The number and make-up of participants in each group may depend upon program census, type/content of group, and various other factors. The group therapy space is developed to be a confidential and supportive milieu in which participants can learn and practice coping skills and discuss topics to build insight and actively move towards identified treatment goals. Group members are encouraged to validate and relate to each other and engage with therapists to discuss and process skill integration, emotions, and thought processes that influence specific behaviors and share about current struggles and successes. Group therapy at Compass Health Center focuses on building awareness around behavioral goals, learning and practicing evidenced-based skills, and using a confidential space to process relevant and relatable topics with peers. Group facilitators guide understanding related to skills and topics linked to ACT, DBT, and CBT while connecting these topics to treatment objectives and skill application and integration in the home, school, and work settings. Groups may be didactic, psychoeducational, interpersonal/process, or experiential and often employ multiple techniques to increase engagement and impact.
The gold standard treatment for body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs) that helps individuals understand triggers and replace habits like hair-pulling, skin-picking, and nail-biting with safer, more constructive ones.
DBT is an evidence-based model of treatment designed by Dr. Marsha Linehan to help patients build meaningful lives and improve their ability to regulate emotions. DBT guides patients through identifying patterns in thinking, behavior, emotions, and interpersonal interactions that contribute to problems in living. Once identified, the goal is to change these patterns using coping skills. The “D” in DBT refers to dialectics, the presence or co-occurrence of two seemingly contradictory or opposing concepts simultaneously. DBT centers on the dialectic of acceptance and change and encourages individuals to walk the middle path between the two, working to balance acceptance (“I’m doing the best I can,” “this is how things are right now”) and change (“I need to try different for things to be different”). DBT comprises four central tenets to help people accept and change: Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance, Interpersonal Effectiveness, and Emotion Regulation.
CBT is an evidence-based, present-focused, structured, and time-sensitive therapy proven effective by thousands of studies over decades for many physical and mental health concerns. CBT centers around the interconnectedness of a person’s thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and physiological responses. CBT posits that the way one perceives and reacts to a situation causes them the most distress, rather than the situation itself. CBT offers skills to reduce distress by helping individuals identify distorted thinking patterns, evaluate their effectiveness, and reframe thinking to more realistic and helpful thoughts. CBT focuses on building awareness of what an individual experiences in the here and now and then problem-solve using this insight to create change in thinking patterns and behaviors using this increased insight and specific coping skills.
ACT is an evidence-based therapeutic model that combines behavior modification interventions with specific types of acceptance and mindfulness exercises. ACT aims to change a person’s relationship with their own troubling thoughts, whether it is ruminating on past mistakes, focusing on potential threats in the future, or feeling overwhelmed by traumatic memories. In changing how a person thinks about and responds to these troubling thoughts, that person frees themselves up to live a value-based, rich, full, and meaningful life. Since there is no manualized protocol for ACT, Compass adapts tools to meet patients and groups where they are at in their treatment journey. These tools assist patients in making room for their emotional experiences and to have space to focus on identifying and doing what is most important to them.
Emotion regulation refers to adjusting or modulating one’s emotions. The phrase “Emotion Regulation” is a DBT term that denotes a set of skills designed to help individuals both increase resilience to intense emotions and decrease suffering related to emotions. These skills are not designed to “eliminate” or “avoid” emotions, but rather to help individuals identify and express emotions, alter their responses to their emotions, shift the emotions they are experiencing and/or the intensity of their emotions, and navigate difficult to sit with emotions safely and effectively.
Mindfulness is a term used in various ways based on setting and context. DBT defines Mindfulness as “the act of consciously focusing the mind in the present moment without judgment and attachment to the moment.” Mindfulness is active—it is something all people can engage in, actively choose to do, and can develop into practice with repeated effort. Most Mindfulness activities and tools, including the DBT Mindfulness skills, are adapted from cultural and spiritual traditions like meditation and breathwork. DBT Mindfulness skills help individuals practice being fully present in the moment, tuning in to what is happening inside and around them, and moving forward aligned with inner wisdom.
Art therapy is a specific type of experiential therapy that engages individuals in art-making and creative expression to explore internal experiences, build insight, and learn and apply skills related to treatment goals. Art therapy is a therapeutic intervention led by professionally trained art therapists with specific educational and practical experiences. At Compass, art therapy is integrated into programming in age-specific, values-aligned, and skills-focused ways.
Parents often carry a quiet weight: uncertainty, self-doubt, and the sense that they should know how to fix what is happening. Parent groups provide space to learn skills, ask questions, and hear from others navigating similar challenges. These conversations often bring relief as much as information.
For More Information or to Schedule an Assessment, Call Us or Fill Out the Form Below.
Our Impact
We understand that success can look different for everyone depending on your hopes and needs. Here are a few ways we define success:
95%
of patients step down to a lower level of care after treatment
99%
would refer a family member or friend
97%
of patients choose to start a program the same day or next day
90%
of patients maintain progress, not requiring higher care levels for 12+ months post-treatment
Our therapy team was great. They offered lots of guidance to our family during some difficult transitions. My child overall has been having an easier time managing challenging situations and we have new methods to help him do this as a family.
Compass has it "down" in helping their patients! A very complete and comprehensive program. We were impressed with the services and the compassion our son received.
I know it’s a lot to handle, but throughout my time here I made friends and I’ve grown a lot as a person. The best advice I can give is to not fight the process.
I felt very safe and listened to in this program. I felt like I could be my authentic self and I wouldn't be judged for it.
Meet Forward, Compass Health Center’s Lookbook
Mental health care is changing—and so is the way we tell its story.
Forward is a collection of voices, insights, and design that feels less like a brochure and more like a magazine you’d actually want to flip through. We created this Lookbook to show how care can be approachable, engaging, and thoughtfully designed—just as our treatment experience is. Inside, you’ll find our philosophy, programs, and patient outcomes shaping Compass care today, and what’s next.