SPRING CLEAN: A Digital Detox to Protect Your Mental Space from Doomscrolling

Meet Jake Haelen, Mental Health Counselor, 2nd-Year Intern

Jake Haelen works with individuals, couples, families, children, and adolescents who are seeking meaningful change and greater connection in their lives. He believes that change rarely happens by accident—it is built through steady, intentional effort—and he helps clients develop practical strategies that support a life that feels more aligned, fulfilling, and manageable.

Jake works with clients facing anxiety, depression, caregiving stress, relationship concerns, burnout, and complex family dynamics. His approach is warm, thoughtful, and grounded in helping clients slow down, better understand what is happening beneath the surface, and move toward lasting change with greater clarity and purpose.

He has a particular interest in supporting individuals and families impacted by disability and the caregiving experience. Drawing from both his personal experience as a parent of a child with a disability and his previous career as a television producer, Jake brings a unique depth of perspective to his work. He understands that life does not always unfold as expected, and that navigating those unexpected turns can be both deeply challenging and transformative.

Jake approaches therapy with compassion, respect, and a genuine commitment to helping clients feel heard and understood. He strives to create a supportive space where clients can work through longstanding struggles or more recent challenges, while building healthier patterns and deeper connection with themselves and others.

He welcomes those who may be feeling overwhelmed, stuck, or simply ready for change to reach out for a free consultation.

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You know that feeling: you pick up your phone “just for a sec,” and suddenly 45 minutes have vanished into the endless abyss of doomscrolling. The internet? It’s a time thief, leaving you feeling just a bit more anxious and defeated than you did before. Here’s the truth: you’re not weak, and it’s not about willpower. You’re human. These platforms are designed to keep you hooked, no matter what it costs. Especially your mental well-being.

In light of the recent landmark court ruling in Los Angeles that’s holding tech giants legally responsible for creating addictive features like infinite scroll and autoplay, consider kicking off this month with a spring clean digital detox to help manage your anxiety. 

Awareness is the first step toward reclaiming control of your time and mental space, so let’s stop mindless scrolling with this Doomscroll Escape Kit. These playful hacks might feel strange at first, but they create tiny interruptions that protect your emotional energy, give your mind space to breathe, and might help you take back control of your time this Spring. SPRING CLEAN: A Digital Detox to Protect Your Mental Space from Doomscrolling

You know that feeling: you pick up your phone “just for a sec,” and suddenly 45 minutes have vanished into the endless abyss of doomscrolling. The internet? It’s a time thief, leaving you feeling just a bit more anxious and defeated than you did before. Here’s the truth: you’re not weak, and it’s not about willpower. You’re human. These platforms are designed to keep you hooked, no matter what it costs. Especially your mental well-being.

In light of the recent landmark court ruling in Los Angeles that’s holding tech giants legally responsible for creating addictive features like infinite scroll and autoplay, consider kicking off this month with a spring clean digital detox to help manage your anxiety. 

Awareness is the first step toward reclaiming control of your time and mental space, so let’s stop mindless scrolling with this Doomscroll Escape Kit. These playful hacks might feel strange at first, but they create tiny interruptions that protect your emotional energy, give your mind space to breathe, and might help you take back control of your time this Spring. 

DOOMSCROLL ESCAPE KIT

Phone Jail 

Environment beats intention. If your phone sleeps next to you, you’ll wake up to it.

If it’s across the room, you’ll have a choice. Small distance. Big difference. Toss that phone in a drawer, in a separate room, somewhere not on your body! and see how it affects your day. 

Random App Lottery

Put your apps in folders, shuffle them weekly, or rename them with random symbols. Confusion = friction. You’re less likely to auto-open the doomscroll app when you can’t instantly find it.

Thumb Freeze

Bind one thumb with a rubber band whenever you’re tempted. Physically restricting the primary scrolling finger creates a tactile interruption that forces conscious awareness.

Doomscroll Cost Tracker

Every time you over-scroll, write down what you “lost” (sleep, mood, social time). Seeing real consequences reinforces the habit’s negative impact.

Doomscroll Reverse Feed

Set up a feed of absurdly positive, quirky, or inspiring content that only appears when you reach for your usual apps. From cat yoga videos to micro-learning hacks, this replaces anxiety-inducing doom with small bursts of joy and might even retrains your brain’s reward system.