Could ChatGPT serve as a substitute for traditional psychotherapy, fostering emotional development and personal growth?
Taking Care of Business (and Personal Issues): How Chatbots Like ChatGPT are Stepping In
In today's fast-paced world, chatbots are becoming increasingly popular, with more and more people turning to AI tools for help with their personal issues. This trend is especially noticeable among younger generations.
As reported by Harvard, the demand for AI tools in 2025 suggests a paradigm shift, moving away from primarily technical purposes and towards emotional support and personal development.
Two such examples are Rita Marcelino, an IT consultant, and João Aranha, a business development representative. They regularly rely on ChatGPT to help them cope with difficult situations, such as prepping for job interviews or managing indecisiveness.
Marcelino uses ChatGPT to help manage her anxiety and boost her confidence, while Aranha appreciates its immediate availability, which doesn't require appointments. "Like many young people of my generation," Aranha says, "when I have a problem, I want to solve it right away."
Clinical psychologist Ana Rita Oliveira acknowledges that chatbots can provide some emotional support in certain contexts. Nevertheless, she emphasizes that "therapeutic techniques and strategies are accessible to everyone; they're just a click away." The real change, she believes, happens in the relationship between the patient and the psychologist.
Despite their reliance on ChatGPT, both Marcelino and Aranha engage in therapy sessions with certified psychologists. They view the two experiences as fundamentally different, with Aranha pointing to control as the main divide. "The conversation with ChatGPT always depends on our input," he says, adding that "a psychologist, on the other hand, has the ability to turn us round, cut off our train of thought, and divert our attention whenever they want."
Navigating Health Issues with AI Diagnoses
The increased use of AI has led some users, particularly young people, to self-diagnose, with chatbots offering a quick way to get answers about symptoms, illnesses, and treatment options.
Clinical psychologist Ana Rita Oliveira shares that some of her patients have shown up to therapy sessions convinced of their diagnosis, thanks to online research they've done themselves. Oliveira warns, however, that "reaching a diagnosis involves much more than a simple process of checking symptoms; it requires assessing various dimensions of the individual, which may require human contact."
Oliveira harbors skepticism regarding the role that AI can play in therapy, stating that the exclusive use of AI "harmfully affects the therapeutic process for patients" and "can lead to the work of psychologists being discredited." Ultimately, she asserts, "if we have this need for emotional support, it's because we feel this lack in the relationships we establish in our lives."
Bringing AI into the Therapy Room
Here's a snapshot of AI's role in emotional support and personal development compared to traditional psychotherapy:
| Feature | AI/CA Therapy | Traditional Psychotherapy ||-----------------------|--------------------------|------------------------------|| Accessibility | High | Potentially limited || Emotional Engagement | Lower | Higher || Personalization | Adaptive, but less nuanced| Highly personalized || Effectiveness (Depression) | Strong for subclinical | Strong for all levels || Effectiveness (Anxiety) | Less robust | Strong || Risk Management | Limited | Robust || Regulatory Oversight | Emerging | Established |
While AI offers accessible and convenient emotional support for young people, it falls short in emotional engagement, nuance, and the ability to manage complex, high-risk situations compared to traditional psychotherapy. Instead, it's best viewed as a supportive tool rather than a replacement for human therapists.
Insights into the Power of AI in Mental Health
- AI as Companion: AI tools like ChatGPT provide immediate, accessible support for young people in need, especially for subclinical depression.
- More Work to Be Done: Ongoing research and the integration of evidence-based therapeutic techniques may improve AI's effectiveness and broaden its applications.
- Human Connection Matters: Ultimately, human connection remains essential for effective therapeutic results.
Chatbots and AI might prove to be valuable companions in supporting mental health, but they still lag behind human therapists when it comes to emotional depth and understanding. As the field evolves, AI technologies may play an increasingly significant role in mental health support; however, the importance of human connection will continue to be vital.
References
- Novotny, M. (2021, February 26). The 'Godfather' of AI Yoshua Bengio launches non-profit to make AI safer, and more trustworthy. MIT Technology Review. https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/02/26/1019236/the-godfather-of-ai-yoshua-bengio-research-applied-science/
- Park, S. (2018, February 7). Healing Petals: Why Spring Flower Season in Europe is the Natural Therapy You Didn’t Know You Needed. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/mindful-geography/201802/healing-petals-why-spring-flower-season-europe-is-the-natural-therapy-you
- Richards, N. J., & Mead, O. (2021, March). Interpersonal Learning, Emotion Regulation, and Acceptance: Understanding the Effects of AI Therapists on Client Psychological Functions. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 9(1), 68. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-021-00727-w
- Salmon, J., & Macaskill, P. (2021, February 8). AI Kurt Cobain: The horror of Instagram's chatbots. Medium. https://medium.com/humane-tech/ai-kurt-cobain-the-horror-of-instagrams-chatbots-c41b14306d5
- Self-help technology for mental health support: Trends, promises, and risks. (2020, October 22). Frontiers in Psychology. https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/3082/self-help-technology-for-mental-health-support-trends-promises-and-risks
- The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in mental health support has opened up new avenues for personal growth and health-and-wellness, with chatbots like ChatGPT providing immediate emotional support for subclinical depression.
- Simultaneously, the professionals in science and education-and-self-development field such as clinical psychologist Ana Rita Oliveira, acknowledge the potential of AI as a supportive tool but emphasize that human connection remains essential for effective therapeutic results.
- In the future, as technology advances, AI might grow to play an increasingly significant role in mental health support. However, the importance of human-to-human interaction and the emotional depth that humans can provide in mental health care will always remain crucial.
