tl;dr ……. no.
Accessing therapy is tough. Thanks to the internet, searching for a credible therapist has become easier. Psychotherapists have websites (hi that’s me) or belong to online directories. With a surplus of options there are still many barriers including navigating insurance, affordability, scheduling, let alone if you find a therapist you actually *like.*
Therapy in and of itself is a process. Identifying parts of yourself that have felt stuck is almost, if not, harder than “healing.” Trust within the therapeutic relationship is developed over time. Online artificial intelligence chat-bots are easy to access, they’re available 24/7, there is an initial sense of trust as the chat-bot validates and sympathizes. When engaging with these tools, users find comfort in receiving direct information or outlined steps to “heal.”
Sounds great right? An instruction manual to achieve XYZ? Sign me up. The downfall is that an AI chat-bot does not have the capacity to read the room like licensed professions. It doesn’t understand nuance. It cannot recognize when a client becomes silent after a question is asked. As therapists, we listen with curiosity and observe non verbal communication with compassion. We create opportunities for exploration whereas AI chat-bots lean on a one direction mirrored relationship.
These AI systems adapt to you in real time perpetuating your thoughts, feelings, and emotions. The technology has even developed the capacity to respond to you with statements like “you and I both feel,” when technology does not have the capacity to feel in the way human connection can feel.
Ester Perel, profound psychotherapist, shares that AI lacks “necessary friction” that we experience in everyday human interactions. Therapists provide thoughtful curious friction to help clients process their emotions and be present in the here and now.
So while AI access is easy, it is not sustainable for growth, healing, and developing real time, real human relationship with your therapist.
