Should you use ChatGPT for therapy?
TikTok users are sharing how they use ChatGPT as an alternative to talk therapy.
With barriers such as cost and availability of services affecting many people trying to access psychological therapies, is an AI chatbot a good alternative? An RMIT expert weighs in.
Dr James Collett, Senior Lecturer, Psychology
“Reflection and self-monitoring are fundamental to most psychotherapies, and an AI chatbot can assist with this. However, people also lose important elements of psychotherapy – personal trust and rapport – which are typically ranked by clients as being one of the most helpful parts of the therapeutic process.
“Therapeutic growth requires clients to be pushed out of their comfort zone, but an AI chatbot is unlikely to know when a client is ready for this and would be unable to provide support in a genuinely caring manner. A psychologist is attentive to the mental and emotional state of clients and can provide support based on where the client is at. Without this personal element, client safety may be compromised.
“AI chatbot models are likely to be trained on content about therapeutic strategies published online. This information is largely going unreferenced and may not be evaluated thoroughly. As a result, there is no guarantee any advice given is reliable, based on up-to-date information or aligned with best practice.
“There may be privacy concerns regarding the information users provide to an AI chatbot and how it may be stored or used. For a chatbot to be a safe therapeutic tool, users would need to feel assured that their information remains confidential.
“There may be concerns from professionals that AI will diminish the value and integrity of psychology but conversely, there are many clients who might not be able to access support by traditional means that a therapeutic AI chatbot could be helpful for.
"Realistically, AI technology is not going away. Psychologists need to be conscious that it exists and is being used. Future best practice may integrate evidence-based, practitioner-endorsed AI chatbots that serve as a supplement, rather than a replacement, for traditional psychological therapies.”
Dr James Collett is a senior lecturer in psychology at RMIT University. He has experience working in technology-assisted psychological therapy and has researched virtual reality technology usage in psychotherapy.
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