Talking Therapies: Is your phone obsession ruining your relationship?

A study by Brigham Young University examined how technology interferes with relationships. Researchers found that higher levels of ‘technoference’ – the negative effect on interpersonal relationships by the intrusive use of technology– were linked to greater relationship conflict and lower relationship satisfaction.

But is it all about the phone? Or is someone’s technology dependency a sign that something deeper is going on?

We spoke to UKCP psychotherapist and author of the Phone Addiction Workbook Hilda Burke to find out.

‘It’s not about work usually, it’s about me feeling needed.’

In her feature for Psychologies Magazine, our CEO Professor Sarah Niblock writes: ‘Therapists believe it has reached such a crisis point that couples need to make time for conversations about technology in the same way they might have summit talks about the boundaries of flirting!’

'Is your phone obsession ruining your relationship' article