Offline.now is a community helping people build a healthier relationship with screens - without shame or all-or-nothing rules. We turn intention into action with small wins, a simple framework (the Offline.now Matrix) and practical tools anyone can use at home, at work, or in the classroom.

We host a growing directory of therapists, coaches, and others who specialize in digital wellbeing, attention, and family tech dynamics. Whether you’re a parent, professional, student, or practitioner, we meet you where you are and help you design tech use that supports sleep, focus, and relationships.

For media, we provide expert voices, timely insights on doomscrolling and phone overuse, and real-world stories from our community.

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Expert Inquiry

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California Association of Marriage & Family Therapists

Journey Clinical (Partnership for Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy)

Today on the Spiritual Spiral, I'm thrilled to welcome Marriage & Family Therapist, Gaea Woods, to the show.  Gaea is also a talented artist and freelance photographer and I actually met Gaea over 10 years ago when I was in the studio recording a new record. About seven years ago, she transitioned into the world of therapy where she practices full-time as a licensed therapist. Gaea and I begin by talking about creativity, photography and the challenges one can face dealing with the commerce side of art. Gaea shares the story about why she felt inspired to become a therapist and she even used to host her own podcast talking about relationships. We also discuss social media and mental health, the power of listening, societal and emotional triggers and some of the tools we can all use to try and alleviate stress in our lives. With all the cultural discussions about mental health over the last couple years, I felt it was an appropriate time to speak to Gaea. It's an important discussion and if you're potentially looking to speak to a professional about mental health issues, you can find Gaea in Los Angeles by visiting gaeawoodstherapy.com or click HERE. As always, thanks so much for listening and remember, I'm also very excited to say my new book SSAFY can be purchased by visiting SSAFYoga.com or buy it on Amazon by clicking HERE and if you enjoy today's episode and you want to support the show, please subscribe to the podcast on iTUNES or Spotify. It's always helpful if you share the show with your friends or head over to iTunes and write a quick review. You can also support the show by becoming a subscriber at www.patreon.com/eddiecohn and on the music side, you can also purchase my new record at eddieconn.bandcamp.com or visit my website www.iameddiecohn.com and sign up for my email list and newsletter. As always, thanks so much for listening and supporting the show. Please reach out on IG @eddiecohn with any questions. Thanks for listening.

Gaea Woods

Antioch Community Therapy Services (ACTS)

Born and raised in California, Gaea has lived on the east and west coasts, and abroad in Europe and Asia.  She earned her Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University Los Angeles with a specialization in Spiritual Depth Psychology, and her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography from Rhode Island School of Design.

Gaea is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, owner of the group psychotherapy practice: Unfolding Self Psychotherapy, and clinical supervisor.  She specializes in treating trauma, eating disorders, self-esteem issues, and improving relationship functioning and overall well-being.  She employs Psychodynamic and Depth Psychology, both of which emphasize developing a connection between the conscious and unconscious mind.

Prior to pursuing a career as a Psychotherapist, Gaea worked in the fields of fine art, commercial photography, and advertising.  She learned firsthand that balancing one’s personal vision with commercial interests can be both challenging and rewarding.  As an artist and photographer herself, Gaea is especially interested in working with and supporting clients who are on their own creative path.

Body-Image Filter Issues

Depression & Screen Use

Online Dating Rejection

Burnout Resilience

Healthy Tech Boundaries in Relationships

Journaling & Creativity Coaching

EMDR

Motivational Coaching

Psychedelic Integration Coaching

Gaea Woods Psychotherapy

SOULFRIEND RADIO Podcast

Personal Website (Photography)

Unfolding Self Psychotherapy

Can straight married men and women be friends? I went on a quest to find out

Interview

Episode # 211 - Gaea Woods

How Bad Is It That My Partner and I Constantly Swear At Each Other?

‘Till Death Do You Part—But How Much Time Should You Spend Together Until Then?

Emotional Wellness for Women and People of Color

How is technology impacting your life? Sure there’s an abundance of conveniences from tech, but what happens when your own emotions and decision making is controlled by tech and social media? The Spiritual Spiral is here to inspire you to be more present, to turn off your phone and appreciate a more ”analog” lifestyle. Join musician, writer and yoga teacher Eddie Cohn as he discusses the impact of tech and shares personal stories while also interviewing fellow creatives to talk about how social media affects the world and what we can ALL do to be more creative, more present and less distracted.

The Downward Facing Spiritual Spiral

is-your-phone-about-to-ruin-thanksgiving-dinner

Licensed Marriage and family therapist Gaea Woods shares simple, low-pressure ways to be more present at the table - without policing everyone’s screen time.

Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist

Thanksgiving is supposed to be about connection. But for a lot of families, the quiet guest at the table is everyone’s phone.

Licensed marriage and family therapist Gaea Woods says the damage rarely comes from one big fight about tech. It’s the drip of small moments: someone telling a story while another person scrolls, a partner checking notifications mid-sentence, a teen disappearing into their screen.

“Every time that happens, the signal is: my phone has part of my attention right now,” Woods explains. “Over the course of a holiday, that can add up to people feeling unseen or unimportant.”  Instead of laying down hard-and-fast “phone rules” for the whole family, Woods suggests starting with your own intentions and leading by example.

One simple move: say it out loud. “I’m going to leave my phone in the other room so I can focus on being present and spending time with you all. I invite you to do the same.”

“There’s no pressure, no shaming,” Woods says. “You’re naming what matters to you and opening the door for others to join you.”  Woods emphasizes that the goal isn’t perfection. It’s micro-moments of presence: a few minutes of eye contact, one conversation where everyone’s really listening, a shared laugh that isn’t about something on a screen.

“Most families don’t need another rule,” she says. “They need a way to say: I care about you, and I want more of you here with me right now. Thanksgiving is a beautiful time to practice that.”  About the Expert Gaea Woods is a licensed marriage and family therapist who helps couples and families navigate communication breakdowns, digital “third-wheel” dynamics, and everyday phone habits that quietly erode intimacy - especially during high-stress times like the holidays. Gaea is part of the Offline.now Relationship Stress expert community. 

Is Your Phone About to Ruin Thanksgiving Dinner?

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Offline.now launches today as world’s first all-in-one digital wellness platform powered by behavioral data that shows confidence, not willpower, is the missing link to lasting change

Registered Social Worker (RSW)

Executive Function Coach, Speech-Language Pathologist, and Educational Specialist

Certified Professional Coach

Do the math: We’re awake roughly 16 hours a day. We spend 10 of those hours staring at screens – phones, tablets, computers, TV, gaming devices. That’s 63% of our waking life.

The first platform dedicated entirely to digital balance launching today reveals something even more startling: It's not that we lack willpower to change our behavior. It's that we lack confidence. New proprietary research from Offline.now shows that 8 in 10 people are ready to change their relationship with technology, but more than half are so overwhelmed with their digital habits, they don’t know where to start. 

“If you don’t learn how to manage the screens in your life, they will manage you,” says Eli Singer, Founder of Offline.now and author of Offline.now: A Practical Guide to Healthy Digital Balance. “When people tell us they feel overwhelmed, it’s not laziness. It’s a crisis of confidence. And confidence is something that can be built.”   Digital Wellness Experts Address the Struggles No One Else Will  These insights come from digital wellness experts in the Offline.now Digital Wellness Directory – a growing community of licensed professionals across North America specializing in ADHD, relationships, family dynamics, high-achievers, and sustainable behavior change. They’re not offering generic advice. They’re addressing specific digital struggles that define contemporary life. 

 Psychotherapist Harshi Sritharan, who specializes in modern anxiety and ADHD, explains: “The biggest mistake people make is reaching for their phone or turning on their computer first thing in the morning. It injects your dopamine full of uncertainty. You’ve essentially told your brain the most important thing you have to do today is put out fires. I tell clients to delay that first scroll as long as possible and never hit ‘snooze’. You’re fragmenting your REM sleep and making yourself more exhausted. These aren’t willpower issues; they’re about understanding how blue light disrupts your circadian rhythm, especially for those with ADHD who already struggle with sleep regulation.”

According to Sritharan, the breakthrough happens when people understand the dopamine cycles driving their dependence and “reframe how they connect with all their screens, whether it’s their phone, gaming console, or streaming TV.”

High Achievers Can’t Unplug. The ‘Always-On’ Trap is Killing Productivity, Not Boosting It “A lot of high performers think they need better time management,” says Executive Function Coach, Craig Selinger. “But what they actually need are boundaries. They’ve built empires by being available 24/7, and their phones have become permission slips to say yes to everything.”  The difference between old and new technology matters,” he explains. “Back in the day with TV, there was a clear demarcation of beginning and end, right? The episode ends and you move on. Now it’s like Minecraft or TikTok – there’s no ending. And mobility makes it sticky, because you’re physically carrying the drug with you, versus a TV that stayed in one room.”

The breakthrough happens when they realize being unavailable on purpose isn’t a weakness. “Things like turning off notifications during deep work, or setting ‘do not disturb’ windows? Those aren’t luxuries. They’re the competitive advantages they’ve been missing.”  Digital Dependency as a Third Party in a Relationship Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Gaea Woods says digital devices are killing interpersonal relationships, not because tech is evil, but because “we use it unconsciously at the moments when connection matters most. When you’re scrolling at dinner, you’re telling your partner ‘my phone is more interesting and important than you’.”

The breakthrough happens when couples set explicit agreements: response times, when devices go off-limits – and even what’s it’s OK with AI companions. “We’ve exited the era of meaningful communication without realizing it, and now we must deliberately rebuild it. 

Nature isn’t ‘Nice to Have’. It’s the Antidote to Screen Fatigue No One is Talking About After running a tech-free camp for 25 years, Personal Development Coach Mark Diamond says he’s seen what happens when kids get genuine face-to-face time interaction outdoors. “Their brains reset. The beauty and physical activity provide perspective that screens can never replicate. Digital dependency has eroded our ability to develop real human connections across all ages, not just teenagers. Screens should not replace the moments that define our wellbeing.”

Why This Matters Now The stakes extend beyond personal frustration. Unchecked screen dependency is linked to rising rates of anxiety, deteriorating sleep quality, relationship breakdown, and what mental health experts call “continuous partial attention”, a state where we’re always connected, but never fully present. 

The Data Reveals When Change is Possible Beyond the confidence divide, Offline.now’s research uncovers the precise moments when users are most open to shifting their digital habits:
Evenings from 6 pm-11:59 pm emerge as the “Go Time” window. 40% of self-assessment responders peak readiness to act. Sunday is “Reset Day, when 43% want to set boundaries for the week ahead. Saturdays offer natural opportunities for self-compassion and rest. Afternoons become the “Overwhelm Window”, with 57% feeling consumed by their screens.  Critically, Fridays – despite having the highest overwhelm factor – are the worst time for interventions. Users are depleted and change rarely sticks.   The Framework That Powers the Platform At the platform’s core is the Offline.now Matrix, a behavioral framework that maps the confidence and motivation levels of users to reveal their starting point: Overwhelmed, Ready, Stuck, or Unconcerned. Based on Singer’s book, Offline.now: A Practical Guide to Healthy Digital Balance, the approach replaces willpower-based advice with microlearning strategies – each taking 20 minutes or less – that track emotional triggers rather than just screen time totals. It offers 100 real-world alternatives to scrolling, from reorganizing a drawer to visiting a thrift shop, and reframes slip-ups as data, not disasters.

“The books shows that lasting change doesn’t require deleting Instagram or TikTok tomorrow,” says Singer. “You need to win one personal victory today, and then another tomorrow. That’s how confidence rebuilds.”  Propelled by University of Toronto’s Innovation Ecosystem Offline.now is a University of Toronto-affiliated startup, leveraging one of the world’s most powerful innovation networks. U of T is ranked among the top five university-managed business incubators globally and has helped create more than 1,500 venture-backed companies and secured more than CAD$14 billion in investment over the past decade.

How Offline.now Works For individuals and families: Take the free self-assessment quiz using the Offline.now Matrix to map your motivation and confidence levels in under three minutes. Receive instant access to practical strategies, curated resources, and a searchable directory of digital wellness experts organized by specialty, location, and insurance coverage.
For digital wellness professionals: Join a growing community of licensed mental health practitioners, certified behaviorial coaches, and registered social workers by creating your profile at Offline.now. The platform provides new client leads, professional development opportunities, and visibility in a rapidly expanding market. 

About Offline.now Offline.now is the first global platform dedicated entirely to achieving digital balance. Founder and author Eli Singer built one of North America’s first social media agencies before seeing technology shift from community-building to attention-harvesting. As a parent, he experienced firsthand the struggle to maintain digital balance. The platform combines proprietary behavioral research, expert guidance and counselling from licensed professionals, and science-backed strategies to help individuals and families build healthier relationships with their screens. Visit Offline.now at https://offline.now  Expert Interview Availability Offline.now can arrange interviews with:
Eli Singer, Founder – Vision for digital wellness; behavioral data insights Harshi Sritharan, Psychotherapist – Dopamine cycles, ADHD, anxiety and intentional tech use Craig Selinger, Executive Function Coach – Digital distraction in high achievers, family dynamics, ADHD Mark Diamond, Personal Development Coach – Outdoor wellness, sustainable behavior change, happiness, connection  Gaea Woods, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist – Communication, digital third-party relationships, phubbing  Additional Resources Free self-assessment quiz - The Offline.now Matrix: https://offline.now/quiz Expert directory and booking: https://offline.now/experts/ Join the directory: https://offline.now/join/  Order Offline.now: A Practical Guide to Healthy Digital Balance: https://offline.now/book/  

We’re Awake 16 Hours a Day. We Spend 10 of Them Staring at Our Screens – and Most of Us Feel Powerless to Stop

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