WIRED Changed How I Show Up For My Son

Dr. Katie Brockert shares how she found herself reaching for her phone during every quiet moment, at home, in social situations, and most painfully, while her young son played beside her. After installing app blockers that she'd immediately override, she knew something deeper was going on.

Through the Wired program, Katie had a breakthrough realization: she wasn't just scrolling mindlessly, she was using her phone to suppress emotions, a pattern she'd carried since childhood. That moment of awareness, she says, felt like "water being splashed on my face."

In this episode, we talk about:

• How postpartum life amplified her relationship with her phone
• Using scrolling as emotional avoidance, and the moment she connected the dots
• The shift she noticed in the 4–8 PM witching hour with her son
• How her son's behavior changed as she became more present
• Why she believes everyone thinks they don't have a phone problem, and why they're wrong
• Finding the "happy medium" with technology instead of going all-or-nothing

Favorite quote: "I don't know anybody who's like, 'I feel amazing after they've doom scrolled for two hours.'"

If you've ever wondered whether your phone use is quietly pulling you away from the life you actually want, this one's for you.

WIRED Starts June 22nd, 2026

https://www.mnmfitnessco.com/wired

Connect with Dr. Katie, a postpartum focused physical therapist that works with moms through her program, StrongHER Core.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

All right, Katie. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Um, you just went through the first round of Wired, and I wanted to ask you a couple questions about your experience. So you mentioned to me that you had felt pretty addicted to scrolling and kind of disconnected from your family. I'm really curious how bad had that actually gotten and how long had you been basically living like that?

SPEAKER_00 0:28

I think it got really bad. Um, I'm almost three months postpartum three three years postpartum, see my postpartum brain. Um, I'm almost three years postpartum, and it got really bad during um that whole period. Um, I have a suspicion that I probably was having issues with scrolling before, but it definitely heightened during that period. And um I started noticing it more because it got so bad that I had to install one of those like app blockers on your phone where I had to like, you know, like you can set it to, you know, lock you out at a certain time. And I just kept thinking to myself, oh my gosh, like why do I need to put like a physical blocker? Like I cannot stop myself, no matter how much I am noticing it. I just like I I reach for my phone at any any lull in conversation, any like slow part of my day. And it just started to feel so just uh concerning for me because I was just on my phone all the time, and especially being around my son, like I didn't want him to feel like he was playing second to this device. And so that was really like a big wake-up call for me.

SPEAKER_01 1:44

Yeah. I know you had also mentioned that you had like a realization throughout the experience um about how you were using your phone and scrolling and you know everything else that's available on it to suppress different emotions that you had. I'm really curious if you can share what that moment of understanding and awareness was like for you.

SPEAKER_00 2:07

Yeah, it was really um, it was like water being splashed on my face. Like it was so, as soon as I connected those two together, because I am somebody who grew up um suppressing my emotions, pushing everything down so that everything else um, you know, no one had to really worry about me. And so it became clear to me that I was using my phone also to um do the same thing where I was um just numbing myself and pushing it down. So anytime I was feeling anxious or nervous or uh feeling awkward, like at a social situation, like the phone would come out instead of me either processing those feelings or you know, trying to understand them or move through them. I just totally was using my phone as a crutch. And it was a very um jarring experience for me to make that realization. But at the same time, made me feel like, okay, now that I can identify it, um, now I can really kind of do the things I need to do to try and move out of this pattern because that's not something that I want to be repeating, especially as a mom, um, to be an example for my son, but also just for me to try and have a more healthy relationship with myself and my feelings.

SPEAKER_01 3:27

Yeah, I feel like the awareness piece is so big too, because it's like I love the analogy of like it felt like water being splashed on my face because it does. It kind of like it's like one of those things where once you see it, you can't unsee it. And it's a lot easier for it to lose its power over you when you are actively aware of what's going on when it's happening, and you just shift it and you know where to shift and you know where to pivot. So I I love that analogy so much. It's actually made a lot of sense for me too. So um, I know after the five-week program was over, you had mentioned that you felt you were more present with your husband and your son. Um, and I'm really curious to know how that is showing up for you now compared to compared to before, just where you're noticing that in your day.

SPEAKER_00 4:11

Yeah, I mean, I think anybody who's a parent knows how crushing the 4 p.m. to like 8 p.m. stretch of time is to go from if you're working or whatever, picking up your kid, whatever it is, to switch from work mode to mother, motherhood mode and like all the way up until bedtime. Like it's such a tough time, um, over stimulation and just everything. And so there after doing throughout Wired and especially after, there were full stretches between that four to seven o'clock where I was like either not on my phone at all or minimally on my phone, which is huge. And I was noticing just like how much lighter that time period was for me, not to say that it was perfect, but it just felt lighter. Like I was more present, I was having more patience, I was just fully participating and um and also noticing how much my son's uh responses to me was different. I think a lot of the time, maybe perhaps his overstimulation or like needing to be near me may have been tied to like how much time I was on my phone, him trying to get my attention. And during Wired, I noticed that that decreased as well. So not only did I feel different, but obviously he felt different and our interactions began to change. And that was like huge for me.

SPEAKER_01 5:42

Yeah, I feel like the co-regulation piece of that is so, so big. And I've noticed that with my daughter too. Some of her most heightened moments, ironically but not ironically enough, are some of my most distractive moments. Um she always settles when I just come back to the room. So I love that so much. Um, last question I have is if the version of you from Before Wired could see you now or experience like what your brain was feeling like now, what do you think that she would think?

SPEAKER_00 6:12

I would think that she'd be super proud of how far that I've come and how much I am noticing and feeling and my ability my ability to move through my emotions and actually feel my emotions instead of pushing them down. Um, I think she'd be like really proud of um the work that I'm putting in um through working on this program and just growing and changing as a person.

SPEAKER_01 6:39

Yeah, I love it. Is there anything that you would want anybody that's on the fence to know about it or any encouragement you'd want to give them?

SPEAKER_00 6:48

I think everyone thinks that they don't have a phone problem and like you do. Like it's our our society and how addictive they've made our phones has made it nearly impossible for us not to have uh a problem with our phones. And it's crazy because it seems because it's so integrated into our day-to-day lives that it seems either A, impossible for you to like get away from it, but also B, like it's not uh it makes it feel like there's there's no way to to kind of go uh have an alternative, like it's all or nothing. Like people think like either I just am on my phone all the time and that's the way it is, or um, I just you know, I can fully just you know sign out of social media, uninstall the apps or whatever. But I want people to know that through Wired you can have a happy medium, you can um um be on your phone but not feel like it's overtaking you, or you can use your phone in a way that actually makes you feel better as opposed to after scrolling. I don't know anybody who's like, I feel amazing after they've doom scrolled for two hours. But you can start, yeah, you can really um you can really have a more healthy relationship with your phone. And it's crazy to show and see how much that relationship with your phone also translates to like every aspect of your life. Not only if you're a mother, but if you if you're a working person, like it doesn't matter. Like once you see, like you said, once you see the connection and how it's affecting you, it's it's so hard to unsee it. And it makes a big difference um in being able to integrate our phones within our lives because our the phones, they're here to stay. And so we need to find a way to have a healthy relationship with that that's not pulling us away from our families, our lives, our work, and allows us to be like the best versions of ourselves that we can be.

SPEAKER_01 8:53

Yeah, I totally agree. I always like to remind people that if they think that they don't have a very like strong and like kind of intimate relationship with their phone, how many times is it not actually in your pocket or in your hand? Pretty much only when we shower or sleep for a lot of people. Um, and so why wouldn't we want to have a more neutral and healthy and not toxic relationship with it? So I love it. Thank you so, so much for your time today and obviously your trust and time being in wired.

SPEAKER_00 9:24

You're welcome.