The rapid growth of AI use has many therapists wondering how they can use AI in their work and whether it is ethical to do so. Concerns include everything from issues such as client confidentiality, their safety as they turn to AI for therapy, and whether counselling itself will become something that belongs in the past.
To discuss some of these issues, I invited Ken Kelly of Counselling Tutor to talk about his new book Ethical AI Practice.
If you’d like to listen to the full discussion, please find the podcast episode here:
If you would like to subscribe to the podcast, click here.
Can AI Replace Therapists?
Throughout our discussion, one thing kept emerging. While AI can simulate therapy skills such as empathy, it cannot replace genuine human interaction.
“Counselling started around the campfire in the cave days, where there would be a kind, caring listener who would hear another person’s pain and really listen.” – Ken Kelly
What Ken went on to say is that while AI cannot replace therapy, it can help to amplify the therapist. Rather than seeing AI as a replacement for human connection, he views it as a tool that can support therapists. This can be everything from research and content creation to practice administration and professional development.
Using AI to Create Content in Your Own Voice
Using AI to write your blogs will produce bland material that sounds like everyone else. However if you use it appropriately it will help you to prepare a blog that are your ideas and written in your style.
Ken suggested doing the following:
- Use a research tool such as perplexity.ai which will search the sources you suggest for ideas and provide summaries of key ideas
- Once you have read these, you can use an ai voice app such as wisprflow.ai to download your responses, thoughts and what you’d like to include in your blog.
- You can then use a large language model (LLM) such as chatgpt or claude to structure and write your blog, but using your words and thoughts.
In this way, AI has helped to amplify your interests as a therapist but has not actually written the content.
Using AI to Define Your Professional Voice
It can be difficult to know how to describe your services without sounding like every other therapist who also offers a safe, non-judgmental space. You may find it hard to identify what makes you different because to you, it’s ordinary.
However, you can use AI to help draw out what makes you unique. This process, known as “reverse interviewing”, can draw out your experience, values and motivations that makes you the therapist you are.
Prompt an LLM by telling it that you’re a therapist seeking to build a professional presence on a profile, website and across social media. Ask it to interview you with questions about your values, how you came to be a therapist, the types of clients you work well with and your approach. Then tell it to bring your answers into a document that represents your professional profile.
For the full list of questions, consult Ethical AI Practice by Ken Kelly and the accompanying workbook.
This exercise will help you to stand out because any copy you produce will be in your voice and reflect who you are as a person and therapist. You will not be producing a generic description of therapy and will attract people who will warm to your personality.
Using AI in Private Practice
Most therapists trained so they could spend their time listening to clients. They did not enter the profession to write policy documents on everything from data protection to safeguarding. And this is where AI can help by considerably reducing the time and worry of producing professional procedures and policies.
First you use AI as a research and reading partner. You can ask it to summarise guidance (such as the UK GDPR) for your specific practice.
You can then use this research to build your documentation, again prompting AI to ask you questions about your specific practice.
If you have existing documentation you can ask AI to review it for your particular needs, referencing relevant guidance, and identify anything that might be missing or need amending.
It’s important to remember that you are in control and that AI can make mistakes so if something feels wrong, continue to interrogate. Ask for more than one source if necessary.
Ethical Boundaries for Therapists Using AI
Not all AI tools are the same and therapists need to understand the difference between them before deciding whether or not to use them with clients.
Decide whether they are:
- A purpose built clinical tool (Digital Mental Health Tool or DMHT for short)
- A general purpose large language model e.g., ChatGPT
- A commercial mental health app
The only tool where it would be appropriate to enter client information would be in a DMHT that you have assessed from a professional perspective as being suitable.
The Critical Thinking Matrix asks ten questions to help you and your clients give informed consent and enables you to demonstrate you have exercised professional judgement in its use.
You can access the Critical Thinking Matrix via the book Ethical AI Practice
Final Thoughts
Will AI replace therapists?
It’s important for therapists to understand how clients may be using AI and the impact it might be having on their therapeutic work together. It’s also ethical for therapists to be transparent about their own use of AI, for example in explaining they’ve used AI to enhance their writing.
AI is changing the way therapists work. It can help them save time, communicate more effectively and focus more on the work that matters: their relationship with clients.
Want Help Communicating What Makes You Different?
One of the most interesting parts of my conversation with Ken was the discussion about professional voice and how difficult it can be to describe what makes you unique as a therapist.
Inside Therapy Growth Group, I help counsellors and psychotherapists identify their niche, communicate their strengths, write profiles and websites that sound like them, and find ways to market their practice without feeling pushy or salesy.
If you’d like support attracting more of the right clients and building a practice that feels authentic to you, I’d love to welcome you.
Find out more about Therapy Growth Group here.
Frequently Asked Questions About AI for Therapists
Can therapists use AI ethically?
Yes, therapists can use AI ethically, provided they understand the limitations of the tools they are using and carefully consider issues such as confidentiality, informed consent and professional responsibility.
Can AI replace therapists?
While AI can simulate empathy and provide information, it cannot replace the human relationship at the heart of therapy. Building trust, understanding context and forming genuine therapeutic connections remain uniquely human skills.
Is it safe to put client information into ChatGPT?
No. General-purpose AI tools such as ChatGPT should not be used for client information or clinical material. Therapists need to carefully assess any AI tool before using it in relation to client work.
How can therapists use AI in private practice?
Therapists may use AI to support research, content creation, policy reviews, administrative tasks and professional development. AI can act as a thinking partner and save time when used appropriately.
Can AI help therapists write blogs and social media content?
Yes. AI can help therapists research topics, organise ideas and structure content. However, the most effective content is based on the therapist’s own experience, expertise and professional voice.
What is a professional voice?
A professional voice is the unique combination of your values, experience, personality and approach that shapes how you communicate with potential clients. Developing a clear professional voice can help therapists stand out in profiles, websites and social media.