Dysfunctional use of the mobile phone has often been conceptualized as a ‘behavioural addiction’ that shares
most features with drug addictions. In the current article, we challenge the clinical utility of the addiction
model as applied tomobile phone overuse.We describe the case of awoman who overuses hermobile phone
from two distinct approaches: (1) a symptom-based categorical approach inspired from the addictionmodel of
dysfunctional mobile phone use and (2) a process-based approach resulting from an idiosyncratic clinical case
conceptualization. In the case depicted here, the addictionmodelwas shown to lead to standardized and nonrelevant
treatment, whereas the clinical case conceptualization allowed identification of specific psychological
processes that can be targeted with specific, empirically based psychological interventions. This finding
highlights that conceptualizing excessive behaviours (e.g., gambling and sex) within the addiction model
can be a simplification of an individual’s psychological functioning, offering only limited clinical relevance.