THE NEW BOOK BY DR. CARRIE MACKENSEN
Digitally
Dysregulated
How Screens Hijack Kids' Brains and What Parents Can Do About It
Less scrolling.
More family.
What if the biggest cost of screen time isn't the screen itself—but what it replaces?
From clinical psychologist, parent coach, and mom Dr. Carrie Mackensen comes a practical guide to understanding the impact of screens, attachment, boundaries, and the relationship at the heart of it all.
Learn how to move from managing the device to building the connection—and create more space for what matters most.
Paperback: $22 | Publication date: February 23, 2027
“Every parent raising a child in the digital age needs to read this book.”
— DR. SAM RADER, AUTHOR OF SOURCE CODE
Order 1 Book -$22
AND YOU'LL RECEIVE:
One copy of Digitally Dysregulated. A new perspective on screens, boundaries, attachment, and connection.
Plus access to The Complete Parenting in the Digital Age Virtual Summit, a $297 value: 6 expert interviews plus a 90-minute panel discussion, time-stamped video and audio, a companion workbook, and lifetime access. Delivered December 15.
Order 5 Books -$99
KEEP ONE. SHARE THE CONVERSATION:
Five copies of Digitally Dysregulated. For friends, caregivers, grandparents, your parent circle, or the people in your life who are raising kids alongside you.
$99 for five books — 10% off
Plus access to The Complete Parenting in the Digital Age Virtual Summit, a $297 value: 6 expert interviews plus a 90-minute panel discussion, time-stamped video and audio, a companion workbook, and lifetime access. Delivered December 15.
ABOUT DIGITALLY DYSREGULATED
Why this book is different.
This isn't an anti-tech book about taking screens away. It's about making room for what matters.
The morning hug replaced by a screen. The silent car ride.
The meltdown when the tablet goes away. The conversation that never happens because everyone is looking down. If any of this feels familiar, you're not alone.
Digitally Dysregulated looks beyond the device and toward the relationship.
INSIDE THE BOOK:
The "loving no."
Language for setting boundaries you can actually hold.
5 Essential digital boundaries.
A framework for your family's relationship with screens.
Age-by-age guidance.
Because screen access changes as your child grows.
A family reset.
Honest timelines and a plan for what replaces screens.
It's not just
"How much
screen time?"
What is it replacing?
Screens aren't simply capturing our children's attention. They are stealing time from the relationship that shapes their emotional regulation, empathy, resilience, and sense of self.
THE ISSUE:
Pixelated Attachment.
When a child brings their need for comfort and connection to a screen instead of the parent they're biologically wired to turn toward.
THE ANTIDOTE:
Presence
Over Pixels.
Creating more opportunities for parent-child time, real-world experiences, conversation, play, hobbies, responsibilities, and the countless ordinary moments that strengthen a family bond.
This isn't about being a perfect parent or eliminating technology. It's about reconnecting and readjusting what we make room for.
Sample The Opening Pages.
BE HONEST
Quick Reality Check
If any of this sounds like your house, this book is for you.
You know a boundary is needed, but holding it feels exhausting.
“Five more minutes” turns into the same fight. Every time.
You want more family time, not another thing to feel guilty about.
You want advice for your child's age—not one rule for every kid.
You're wondering when your child is ready for a phone.
You miss the conversations that used to happen in the car.
You're ready for a plan that includes what comes after “screens off.”
You've noticed your own phone is part of the conversation, too.
You don't need to change everything at once.
You do need somewhere to start.
EARLY PRAISE
Reader Reactions
Real encouragement from real readers.
Dr. Mackensen doesn't just explain the damage—she rebuilds the parent's confidence to set a boundary and hold it, which is the actual missing piece in this conversation.
Michael McLeod, M.A., CCC-SLP
Founder of GrowNOW ADHD
Dr. Carrie has a rare ability to take complex research and turn it into advice that feels practical, relatable, and possible for real families.
Nicki Petrossi
Host of Scrolling 2 Death
Every parent raising a child in the digital age needs to read this book.
Dr. Sam Rader
Author of Source Code
MEET THE AUTHOR
Dr. Carrie
Mackensen
The expert.
The parent.
The human.
Dr. Carrie Mackensen is a clinical psychologist turned parent coach and founder of Successful Parent.
With more than 25 years of experience working with individuals and families, she has practiced in some of Los Angeles' most demanding clinical settings, including Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, residential treatment programs for addiction and eating disorders, and private practice.
She holds a PhD in Individual, Family, and Child Psychology and completed advanced training in psychoanalytic psychotherapy, attachment theory, and interpersonal neurobiology—the science of how our closest relationships shape the developing brain.
But Dr. Carrie isn't approaching this conversation from the outside.
She's a mom who has experienced the very real challenges of raising children in a world where screens are always present.
After years in clinical practice, she made a deliberate shift to parent coaching, earning certifications in Reflective Parenting, Mindful Parenting, and Parent Coaching, as well as becoming a mindfulness meditation teacher.
Today, she helps families strengthen connection, set boundaries, reclaim parental authority, and raise emotionally resilient children in the modern digital world.
THINKING BIGGER?
Bring it to Your Community
One family can start.
A community can go further.
The conversation about kids and screens shouldn't stop at home. Bring Digitally Dysregulated to your school, PTA, parent group, practice, workplace, or organization and give the people around you a shared language for talking about technology, boundaries, attachment, and connection.
WATCH DR. CARRIE IN CONVERSATION
Real expertise. Real-life parenting.
Dr. Carrie brings more than two decades of clinical experience—and real-life experience as a parent—to one of the most complicated parenting challenges of our time. Watch this television conversation with Dr. Carrie about what parents and children are navigating in a screen-heavy world.
About the Summit
YOUR GUIDE TO PARENTING IN THE DIGITAL AGE
This summit is not about overwhelming you or flooding you with mom guilt.
It's about what happens when your kids spend too much time on screens…
and what you can do to fix it without going screen-free.
6 EXPERTS UNLOCK THE ROADMAP TO REPAIR:
-
Dr. Carrie Mackensen, Psychologist
-
Nicki Petrossi, Tech Safety Advocate
-
Dr. Alison Yeung, Family Physician
-
Titania Jordan, Tech Safety Expert
-
Tessa Stuckey, Teen Therapist
-
Sarah Siegand, Family Tech Expert
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The next chapter isn't on a screen.
It's with each other.
For conversation. For boredom. For responsibility. For play. For real-world experiences. For the relationship that helps your child become who they're meant to be.