EP 64 Building healthy digital habits and relationships with Jocelyn Brewer
Conversations with KristiShow Notes
In this episode of Conversations with Kristi, Kristi is joined by Jocelyn Brewer - psychologist, former high school teacher, and founder of Digital Nutrition - for a wide-ranging, deeply thoughtful conversation about technology, parenting, wellbeing, and what it truly means to stay human in a digital world.
With over 20 years of experience working at the intersection of psychology, education, and technology, Jocelyn brings clarity, compassion, and a refreshingly non-shaming perspective to one of the most complex challenges facing families today: how to live well with technology rather than be consumed by it.
Kristi and Jocelyn explore why online safety, digital wellbeing, mental health, and prevention cannot be treated as separate issues - and why bans, rules, and fear-based approaches alone will never be enough. They unpack how children’s behaviour online is often driven by a fundamental need to belong, how brains respond under stress and overwhelm, and why adults must build their own regulation skills if they want to support their children effectively.
This episode challenges the idea of “digital natives” and reframes young people as digital orphans - growing up in systems designed to capture attention, without enough adult guidance or modelling. Together, Kristi and Jocelyn discuss why behaviour is not identity, how shame shuts down learning, and why curiosity, connection, and co-regulation are far more powerful than control.
The conversation also touches on broader systemic pressures - cost-of-living stress, loss of community spaces, comparison culture, and constant information overload - and how these factors shape both parenting and children’s online experiences.
This is not a conversation about perfection, restriction, or policing behaviour. It’s about intentional use, emotional literacy, and building skills for life - online and offline.
Key Themes Covered
Why digital wellbeing and online safety cannot be separated
The concept of digital nutrition and intentional tech use
Why behaviour is not identity - for children or adults
How belonging drives online choices and risk-taking
Why shame and fear undermine learning and connection
Understanding regulation, big feelings, and brain development
The limits of bans and legislation without education and modelling
How persuasive tech design exploits attention and emotion
Teaching children to be critical consumers of technology
Co-regulation, boundaries, and consistency over control
Why adults must do their own work first
Staying human in a digital - and AI - world
Why This Conversation Matters
Many parents feel overwhelmed, confused, or behind when it comes to technology - often carrying guilt, fear, or shame about “getting it wrong.”
This episode reframes the conversation entirely.
Rather than asking “How do we control this?” Kristi and Jocelyn invite us to ask: “How do we build skills, connection, and awareness - in ourselves and our children?”
Children don’t need perfect parents or total restriction. They need regulated adults, honest conversations, clear boundaries, and guidance that grows with them.
Prevention doesn’t start with platforms or policies. It starts with relationships, modelling, and helping children understand why they feel drawn to certain behaviours — online and offline.
About Jocelyn Brewer – Digital Nutrition
Jocelyn Brewer is a psychologist, educator, and the founder of Digital Nutrition, a framework that helps individuals, families, schools, and organisations develop healthier, more intentional relationships with technology.
With a background in teaching and counselling, Jocelyn brings a practical, compassionate, and evidence-based approach to digital wellbeing - focusing on skills, self-awareness, and agency rather than fear or restriction.
Her work centres on helping people stay human in a digital world by understanding attention, behaviour, emotion, and choice.
Learn more about Jocelyn and Digital Nutrition: https://www.di
More from Conversations with Kristi
In this episode of Conversations with Kristi, Kristi sits down with Dr. Jenny Brown, a family therapist and researcher with over 35 years of experience in children’s mental health. Dr. Jenny is the founder of the Parent HOPE Project and the author of the upcoming book, The Parenting Paradox.
In this powerful return to Conversations with Kristi, Kristi sits down with parenting author and speaker Michelle Mitchell to explore one of the most important parts of growing up: friendship.
In this episode of Conversations with Kristi, Kristi sits down with psychotherapist and family constellations facilitator Melanie Enders to tackle one of the most common yet undersupported family structures: the blended family. Drawing from both her professional expertise and her own lived experience navigating a large, complex blended system, Mel sheds light on the emotional weight children carry when their "family frame" changes.
In this episode of Conversations with Kristi, Kristi sits down with Deb McPhedran, a mother, grandmother, and survivor turned advocate. Deb shares the deeply personal and moving story of how her family’s life was upended five years ago when her adult children disclosed that they had been sexually abused throughout their childhoods.
In this episode of Conversations with Kristi, Kristi sits down with Andrew Carpenter, a South Australian solicitor who has spent over a decade fighting for victim-survivors of child sexual abuse. Andrew didn’t enter this field through personal experience, but rather by picking up the files at his law firm that no one else wanted to touch.