If you’re hesitant about AI, here's an angle to consider. 

First of all, I get it. I have hesitations about AI, and as I work in this space my goal is not to eradicate my concerns, my goal is to increase my capacity for holding nuance and tension.

While I hold concerns, I am also holding space for the...

Meet the new mental health workforce.

Careers at the intersection of mental health and technology are booming. I had the honor of talking with Ashleigh Hollowell, M.S. at Behavioral Health Business about this evolving line of work. 

"Market projections estimate that AI in the behavioral and mental hea...

Embodiment.

AI can offer words.
Humans can hold silence.

AI can say what you want to hear.
Humans can hold you in their arms.

AI can act as a mirrored reflection.
Humans can co-regulate nervous systems.

While I champion humans connecting with humans first and foremost; the fact is that hundreds of millions...

When was the last time you felt listened to? 

I mean, really listened to. The "put your phone in a different room, set aside time, quiet all distractions" type of listening.

The type of listening that has no other agenda than to be present. 

Because this is what chatbots are offering. And part of why t...

If you’re a leader - what are the concerns keeping you up at night regarding the rollout of your company's AI initiative?

Likely, you're figuring out how to approach your team's cognitive tension regarding AI adoption. Because you're hearing things like...
"𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘮 𝘐 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯...

When shame finds a home.

Let’s say you feel shame (either nebulous or specific).

Then let’s say you share the emotional experience of that shame with a chatbot.

And let’s say the chatbot houses your shame relatively well. Maybe it validates, it’s doesn’t exacerbate a sense of embarrassment or unworthin...

How to resolve your existential angst in 3 easy steps....

Ok, ok, there are zero easy steps in existential psychotherapy. This is one of those iterative, gray-area, philosophical therapeutic approaches.

So, what does it have to do with the intersection of AI chatbots? Glad you asked :)

Let's start with...

Your definition of therapy is wrong.

If you think it’s “one thing”…it’s not. 

While some clinicians practice through a particular theoretical lens (𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵), many practitioners are “eclectic”. 

Eclectic means over time we gain more skills and study methodolo...

Therapy chatbots are misleading the general public.

They only tell a partial story of how healing occurs.

In essence they say: 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘯𝘰𝘯-𝘫𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴.

𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 how this is solely cognitive.

This is per...

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗜.

Why is AI sticky? …because it provides 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁. 
Attunement is when someone responsively tunes into your internal state, leading to a sense of understanding and connection. It’s that feeling of “𝘢𝘩𝘩, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦!”. Bottom line: it feels awesome.

So, let’s look at how your bo...

𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗯𝗼𝘁𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗻'𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗽𝘆.

The reason (one, among many) is 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗶𝘁𝘆.

Here's what I mean by that...
𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭-𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘓𝘓𝘔𝘴 are not structured with clear role definitions:
◾ One minute they are helping you organize a project
◾ The next they are consoling your ongoing plight with a family...