Artificial intelligence is suddenly everywhere in conversations about mental health.
Some people are excited about its possibilities. Others are deeply suspicious. Many feel a mixture of curiosity and unease.
As a therapist, I find myself somewhere in the middle of this conversation.
I use AI myself. Leaving aside the ways in which it pleases my tech-loving and geek parts, I am interested in how it can support my productivity, organisation and reflection. Used well, it is an incredibly helpful tool. But recent conversations about the risks of AI – and even some comments about it replacing therapy – have prompted me to reflect more deeply on this important issue.
AI is undoubtedly useful.
And therapy is something fundamentally different.
A Tool That Many People Are Already Using
Whether therapists like it or not, people are already turning to AI for mental health support.
The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) has highlighted growing concerns about this in response to a consultation on AI regulation in healthcare (“Our call for clearer AI regulation in mental health”, 2 March 2026). Their survey found that 28% of therapists had noticed clients receiving unhelpful advice from AI tools, while 38% of therapists working with children and young people reported seeing more young people seeking mental health guidance from chatbots.
These figures are not surprising.
AI tools are available instantly, privately, on our phones, at any time of day or night. For someone who is struggling, especially late at night, that accessibility can feel incredibly appealing.
And it would be wrong to pretend that these tools have no value.
Why AI Can Sometimes Be Helpful
Used thoughtfully, AI can support reflection and clarity in a number of ways.
Many people are already using it as a thinking tool rather than a source of answers.
Ways AI Can Support Mental Health and Reflection
When used judiciously, AI can help us with:
- reducing the cognitive load of writing and communication. This can be particularly helpful for neurodivergent people who feel frozen in the face of the “blank page”.
- preparing for therapy. The non-judgemental interface can provide a lower-pressure way to begin expressing thoughts before bringing them into a human conversation.
- organising overwhelming thoughts.
- preparing responses for tricky situations, such as responding to intrusive questions about children.
- learning more about mental health concepts.
- generating journalling prompts and reflective questions.
- breaking down overwhelming tasks into manageable steps.
- identifying procrastination patterns. We can also brief AI on our own patterns and ask it to support us in completing specific tasks.
- clarifying goals and supporting accountability.
- preparing for conversations or social situations that we are anxious about.
- separating the facts of a complex situation from interpretations or assumptions.
- exploring possible explanations for interpersonal situations (for example, suggesting reasons someone might have reacted in a particular way).
- noticing patterns in habits or behaviour.
- identifying support organisations, peer communities, therapeutic resources, or directories. Increasingly, I am hearing of people finding well-matched therapists through AI searches and conversations.
Used this way, AI can act a little like a structured notebook that has a great memory, and which talks back.
I sometimes use it myself to help clarify priorities in my work and home life, or to keep me accountable when I notice my own familiar patterns of procrastination. It can be surprisingly good at spotting those and calling me out!
In this sense, AI can be a useful thinking partner.
But it remains a tool.
The Gender Gap in AI Use
There is also another emerging concern that is receiving increasing attention.
Some early studies suggest there may already be a gender gap in the adoption of AI tools, particularly in professional settings. Research and workplace surveys have suggested that men are currently more likely to experiment with generative AI tools for productivity and problem-solving, while women are slightly more hesitant to adopt them.
If that pattern continues, there is a risk that, in some fields, AI could widen existing productivity – and pay – gaps. There are enough gaps already; let’s not create more!
For that reason, I am an advocate of thoughtful engagement and exploration of these tools rather than avoidance. AI is rapidly becoming part of our everyday landscape, and learning how to use it well may become an important skill – professionally, and possibly also personally.
Again, the key question is not whether we use AI.
It is how we use it.
When AI Starts to Replace Human Support
Alongside the benefits, therapists are also beginning to notice more complex patterns.
Some practitioners report clients relying heavily on AI conversations for emotional support. There are even stories of people leaving therapy in favour of AI-based mental health tools.
This may partly reflect a misunderstanding of what therapy actually is.
AI often provides answers.
Therapy rarely does.
AI can offer suggestions or advice.
Therapy is something else entirely.
AI can sometimes sound like an authority. Its responses are fluent, confident and immediate, which can make it tempting to treat them as definitive.
But therapists know something important: only we can truly be the authority on our own inner world. Our experiences, histories and inner systems cannot be interpreted from the outside in a definitive way.
When we find ourselves drawn to an external voice telling us who we are, what we should do, or how we should understand ourselves, that impulse can itself be meaningful. In Internal Family Systems (IFS) language, it might be a trailhead: a signpost pointing toward a place inside us that deserves curiosity and care.
Rather than a gap that needs filling, it may be an invitation to explore something within our own system that is asking to be seen and understood.
What Therapy Actually Is
Therapy is not simply a conversation about problems.
It is a relationship.
Decades of psychotherapy research have shown that one of the most important predictors of successful therapy is not the technique used, but the quality of the therapeutic relationship, often called the therapeutic alliance. Researchers such as Mick Cooper and others working in the field of psychotherapy outcomes have consistently highlighted the central role of relationship in psychological change.
In therapy, something deeply human happens.
Two people meet.
One person brings their story, their struggles, their questions. The other brings presence, training, ethical responsibility and a commitment to understanding. Crucially, they also bring their humanity.
There is attunement. Curiosity. Sometimes silence. Sometimes laughter. Sometimes grief.
Even when therapy takes place over video rather than in the same room, there is still a relational field between two human beings who can sense and respond to one another.
AI cannot enter that field.
It can generate language.
But it cannot truly witness.
Carl Jung captured something essential about this:
“Know all the theories, master all the techniques, but as you touch a human soul be just another human soul.” (Carl Jung)
That moment of one human soul meeting another is the heart of therapy.
And it cannot be automated.
The Power of Relationship, Rupture and Repair
One of the most powerful aspects of therapy is something AI cannot replicate at all.
Relationships sometimes go wrong.
Misunderstandings happen. Emotions surface. Things feel uncomfortable.
In therapy, those moments can become opportunities for something deeply healing. A difficult moment can be explored, repaired and understood together. A person can experiment with expressing anger, playfulness, vulnerability, fear in a relationship that is safe and ethically held.
This experience of rupture and repair is central to many forms of psychological healing.
AI cannot participate in this process.
It cannot feel, respond, repair or grow alongside another person.
Risks We Should Be Talking About
There are also some real risks that deserve thoughtful discussion.
AI systems are not bound by professional ethical frameworks. They do not hold responsibility for the wellbeing of the person speaking to them.
Long conversations can sometimes drift into self-reinforcing patterns, where certain interpretations or beliefs are unintentionally strengthened. This can be particularly risky if someone is already distressed, isolated or struggling to stay grounded.
These concerns are part of why organisations such as the BACP are calling for clearer regulation and safeguards around the use of AI in mental healthcare.
Technology is developing quickly.
Public protection needs to keep pace.
Bringing AI Into the Therapy Conversation
So far, AI has not really explicitly entered the therapy room in my own practice; and I know it will.
Rather than seeing AI as a threat, I think it is something we need to talk about openly. If people are using AI for reflection, emotional support or advice, therapy can be a place where those experiences can be explored.
When new technologies are used for deeply personal purposes and remain undiscussed, that is often where misunderstanding and risk grow.
Curiosity is a much better starting point.
Human Connection Still Matters
AI will continue to become more sophisticated and more present in our lives.
It may support reflection, organisation and learning in ways that genuinely help people.
But therapy is not simply about information or advice.
It is about being seen, heard, and met by another human being.
AI can be a powerful tool.
Therapy is a human relationship.
And that difference matters.
FAQs
Can AI replace therapy?
No. AI can provide information, prompts and reflective questions, but therapy is a human relationship. Transformational psychological change comes about through trust, attunement, connection and relational repair between living beings.
Is it safe to use AI for mental health advice?
AI can provide helpful information; but it is neither a human being nor a trained mental health professional bound by professional ethics and safeguarding frameworks. It should be used with care and alongside relational human support – particularly when people are struggling.
Resources if you are struggling or in crisis
The Samaritans are available day and night. “If you need someone to talk to, we listen. We won’t judge or tell you what to do.”. Here is their website. You can telephone them on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org
SHOUT is a free, confidential text support service running 24/7. Text the word ‘SHOUT‘ to 85258 to start a conversation.
The NHS provides information about mental health support, NHS talking therapies and urgent help.
If you are at immediate risk of harm please call your GP, dial 999 or go to your nearest A&E department.
BLOG: If you are interested in having therapy and not sure where to start, you can read about the different approaches in my blog post “Exploring Within: Integrating Different Therapeutic Approaches, From Person-Centred to IFS”.
If you’re curious and wondering how I could support you, you can read more about my Therapy and Supervision offerings. Please get in touch to ask for a free introductory call.
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