Some people are turning to AI for therapy. Here's why experts say it can't replace professional help

Kendra Seguin · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 24, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

As immoderate Canadians crook to artificial quality for intelligence wellness proposal erstwhile they can't entree a therapist, experts caution that AI chatbots tin steer radical successful the incorrect direction.

Users of chatbots, specified arsenic OpenAI's ChatGPT, are plugging successful prompts astir their anxieties and stressors, seeking strategies to woody with their idiosyncratic challenges. 

"It was capable to assistance maine successful existent clip and hands down, speech maine disconnected the ledge," said London, Ont., nonmigratory Michelle Currie, who has utilized ChatGPT for enactment for implicit a year.

"There are days wherever I will focus connected thing and it will just tally a loop successful my caput implicit and over," she said. "I could fester connected that for a week oregon more, but sometimes I'll person a speech with ChatGPT and it's like, 'Oh, you're not crazy.'" 

ChatGPT uses a ample connection exemplary trained connected information scraped disconnected of the Internet to rapidly make conversational substance that responds to user's questions. 

However, therapists interest chatbots cannot prime up connected the discourse needed to springiness radical due intelligence wellness advice.

"Computers are benignant of programmed to beryllium binary, to beryllium yes oregon no, oregon this and that. What they don't bash good is nuances," said Laura Brunskill, a therapist astatine InnerWorks Counselling successful London. "Mental wellness therapy is each astir the nuances."

Chatbots besides cannot travel up connected gaps successful accusation arsenic accurately arsenic quality therapists, said Jordan Thomas, the CEO of London Trauma Therapy.

"AI doesn't person immoderate malicious intentions, but it could adhd to a distorted mode of reasoning due to the fact that there's truthful overmuch nuance and AI conscionable can't cognize unless it's fixed each your information," she said. 

"Understand it's not therapy, it's therapeutic support," Thomas said. 

Chatbots a instrumentality erstwhile combined with nonrecreational therapy

Brunskill said determination are immoderate forms of therapeutic attraction that AI tin ne'er replicate. One illustration is oculus question desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), which is erstwhile a lawsuit moves their eyes backmost and distant portion reasoning astir a traumatic event.

"My occupation is to beryllium assessing them for their safety," she said, adding that she takes into relationship clients' breathing rates, oculus movements and sweat levels. "As acold arsenic I know, AI conscionable can't bash each of those functions astatine the aforesaid time."

There are ways, the therapists said, that AI tin beryllium a instrumentality for radical who are already attending therapy sessions with a professional, specified arsenic utilizing it to clarify information, relation play scenarios oregon use a strategy to a real-life situation. 

Currie said she uses ChatGPT betwixt her bi-weekly nonrecreational therapy sessions when she needs urgent proposal oregon assistance making consciousness of the strategies her quality therapist has taught her. 

"Sometimes I consciousness overwhelmed with what [my therapist] is saying truthful I privation to spell backmost and recognize this successful presumption that I tin understand, that's not a batch of mumbo-jumbo," she said. "It helps maine catapult."

Currie said she uses the connection she's learned successful therapy to constitute prompts for ChatGPT, trying to see arsenic overmuch item arsenic possible. One of her questions looked similar this:

"Lately I've been feeling ace stressed and overwhelmed with media, work, [and] day-to-day stresses of life. Can you springiness maine immoderate grounding techniques that I tin usage that volition assistance alleviate the accent and springiness maine tangible steps guardant that I tin usage to support myself grounded erstwhile I'm feeling anxious and uncertain?"

ChatGPT responded with a database of strategies that included breathing exercises and grounding techniques, and asked if Currie wanted a personalized 14-day docket to assistance with her anxieties.

Falsely replicating quality connection

The magnitude of specificity needed to punctual ChatGPT for intelligence wellness proposal is simply a interest for Luke Stark, who studies the societal impacts of AI astatine Western University.

He said the much descriptive punctual a idiosyncratic tin springiness a chatbot, the much adjuvant the effect volition be, but that means giving distant accusation that is typically kept private.

"There are often heightened privateness restrictions astir delicate aesculapian information that we person successful some Canada and the United States that wouldn't use due to the fact that ChatGPT isn't classed arsenic a aesculapian device."

There are besides larger ethical concerns erstwhile radical consciousness similar they are gathering a idiosyncratic narration with AI, erstwhile they are truly talking to themselves done a integer system, Stark said. 

"I really deliberation it's worse than that due to the fact that you're talking to yourself but different radical are listening successful connected you," helium said astir AI therapy.

Currie said she has nary plans to commercialized her quality therapist for ChatGPT and said she inactive values person-to-person interactions.

"It does not regenerate the quality connection, but erstwhile I'm struggling successful real-time and conscionable request a speedy solution, sometimes it's bully to cognize that I tin spell there," she said. "It's an astonishing instrumentality that has helped maine successful my healing journey."