AI + Motivational Interviewing Sep 30, 2025

If you say youโ€™re building ethical AI, but you arenโ€™t doing thisโ€ฆ then youโ€™re missing something.

Let me start by introducing Motivational Interviewing (MI).

MI is a collaborative, client-centered approach that strengthens a person's motivation to change by ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐—ฟ ๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ป ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ด๐—ฒ rather...

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This is Your Body on AI Sep 28, 2025

๐—ง๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐˜† ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—”๐—œ.

Why is AI sticky? โ€ฆbecause it provides ๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜.ย 
Attunement is when someone responsively tunes into your internal state, leading to a sense of understanding and connection. Itโ€™s that feeling of โ€œ๐˜ข๐˜ฉ๐˜ฉ, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ!โ€. Bottom line: it feels awesome.

So, letโ€™s look at how your bo...

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Here's Why Chatbots Can't Replace Therapy Sep 28, 2025

๐—›๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ'๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ต๐˜† ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐˜๐˜€ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป'๐˜ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐˜†.

The reason (one, among many) is ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—น๐˜‚๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐˜๐˜†.

Here's what I mean by that...
๐˜Ž๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ญ-๐˜ฑ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜“๐˜“๐˜”๐˜ด are not structured with clear role definitions:
โ—พ One minute they are helping you organize a project
โ—พ The next they are consoling your ongoing plight with a family...

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Newsletter #1 - AI Mental Health Collective! Sep 13, 2025

Even when I'm on vacation, I'm thinking about AI.

I had the opportunity to spend several days in various parts of Utah this past week; it was a welcome pause amidst my ongoing endeavors to spend time in reflection.

I'm thinking about how AI is impacting our society, our relationships, and

...
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Community-Oriented AI Sep 13, 2025

I think AI should be a group sport.
I think it should be community-oriented.
I think it should be a social experience.

Why?
Because when it's kept secret it has the potential to cultivate delusions, grandiosity, and separation from reality (๐˜'๐˜ฎ ๐˜ด๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ญ-๐˜ฑ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฃ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ'๐˜ต ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด...

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AI Might Be the Largest Provider of Mental Health Support in the US Sep 13, 2025

AI *๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ต ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ* the largest provider of mental health support in the US, according to a recent survey.

Check out LLM mental health usage by the numbers:

โ—พ ๐Ÿฐ๐Ÿต% of users with a self-reported mental health condition use LLMs for emotional support

โ—พ ๐Ÿณ๐Ÿฏ% for anxiety

โ—พ ๐Ÿฒ๐Ÿฏ% for advice

โ—พ ๐Ÿฒ๐Ÿฌ% for depression

โ—พ ๐Ÿฑ๐Ÿด% fo...

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What Does Ethical AI Actually Look Like? Sep 13, 2025

These are the minimum baseline requirements for the safe and ethical development and design of AI systems:

  1. Clear consent and disclosures:

Remind users this is a tool, not a real person; shared information is not confidential

  1. Crisis intervention protocols:

Implement multi-layered safeguar...

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AI and Attachment Theory Sep 13, 2025

๐— ๐˜† ๐—ฐ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ด๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ "๐—”๐—œ ๐—ฝ๐˜€๐˜†๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜€"โ€ฆwhat do I do?

ย 

Iโ€™m sitting with more and more therapists who are reaching out to me with this question- how do I approach this client who is presenting with delusions, grandiosity, and separation from reality in relation to AI?

ย 

One lens that I appro...

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The Most Dangerous Thing About AI Sep 13, 2025

๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ป'๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐˜† ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐˜ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ผ ๐—ต๐˜‚๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป. ๐—œ๐˜'๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜„๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐˜ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐—ต๐˜‚๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—บ.

Every technology that promises connection has this shadow side. Social media taught us to perform rather than relate. Dating apps turned relationships ...

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What Exactly is Therapy? Sep 13, 2025

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—น๐˜† ๐—ถ๐˜€ "๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐˜†"?

The rise of AI chatbots has revealed a fundamental misunderstanding about what therapy actually entails. Many people assume it's something akin to paid advice. It isn't.

True therapy is the sacred act of holding space for another human soul. It is the artful dance betwee...

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Maybe We're Asking the Wrong Question Sep 13, 2025

๐— ๐—ฎ๐˜†๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ฒ'๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—พ๐˜‚๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป...
Instead of "Can AI be a therapist?" let's ask: "How can AI use mental health knowledge without claiming therapeutic identity?"

The distinction matters profoundly. A therapist is a licensed professional who forms relationships, processes trauma, and holds eth...

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Just So We're All On The Same Page Sep 13, 2025

๐—๐˜‚๐˜€๐˜ ๐˜€๐—ผ ๐˜„๐—ฒ'๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ:

Even though Ai canโ€™t feel, people ๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ like it can ๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ, and that matters more.

โ–ช๏ธ 49% of those who use Ai engage it for therapeutic support

โ–ช๏ธ 20 million people engage in synthetic relationships on Character Ai every month

โ–ช๏ธ Romantic role-playing is the seco...

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